


Agent Beckett

by 1L40



Category: Castle
Genre: Alternate Universe, Drama, F/M, Murder Mystery, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-19
Updated: 2015-06-12
Packaged: 2018-02-09 17:31:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 27
Words: 105,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1991640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/1L40/pseuds/1L40
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kate takes the job and they move to DC but things are not quite working out the way they want to. Between Beckett's career ambitions and Castle's penchant for getting into trouble can they make their relationship work?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story was originally posted on FF net as "Home Is Where The Heart Is" - a title which I chose at the time to avoid giving away spoilers to the outcome of the S5 cliffhanger. My preferred title, however, has always been "Agent Beckett," under which I will continue the story here. Since I've been having problems logging into my account and uploading documents there for quite a while, I've decided to update the story here.
> 
> The majority of this story was written during the 2013 summer hiatus before S6 played out on TV, thus the characterization of new and familiar characters from S6 differs somewhat from what we got to see. This is intention and means that this story has become kind of an AU fan fic.
> 
> I'm not going to make excuses and apologies for the long wait in between chapters. Nor am I going to insult your intelligence with promises that updates will happen faster. So if patience is not your virtue, you might want to wait until this story is marked complete.

"That was Freedman," Rachel McCord hung up her phone and looked at her team, "he's just sent up the newbie."

"Down boy!" Matt Hendricks laughed when he saw his partner perk up behind his desk across the cubicle.

"She's here?!" Richmond's voice was laced with awe.

"Try not to drool on her, when Granger introduces her. We don't want her to think we're freaks." McCord perched herself on top of her desk, watching her boys banter with amusement.

"But it's…" Richmond looked from Rachel to Matt in disbelief that they could stay so calm, "Nikki Heat."

"You do realize Nikki Heat is a fictional character," Matt rolled his eyes.

"But she's based on a real NYPD detective whose name just happens to be Kate Beckett. Seriously how many detectives named Kate Beckett can there be working for the NYPD homicide squad? And her file says she used to work at the 12th and that her unofficial partner was Richard Castle."

"Her file also says she didn't really have a partner until he came along, so what does that say about her personality?" Rachel interrupted Richmond's fanboy gushing. "She's probably not really a team player and doesn't play nice with the other kids."

"Nah, have you read the novels? Roach and Heat are like friends, and they're based on other people at her precinct."

"Can we lock him up in the closet for the rest of the day because I'm not sure I can take any more of his fangirling?" Matt looked at Rachel for permission.

"Hey!" Richmond protested.

"Don't tempt me," McCord rolled her eyes, when she spotted their section chief striding past the rows of office cubicles with a blonde woman in tow. She did a quick visual once over of their new colleague. She was tall and dressed professionally in a business suit that looked like it cost her monthly salary. Granger was talking animatedly, as he showed her around the floor, gesticulating wildly. She had her hair tied back in a strict ponytail, exposing the concentrated frown on her face, as if she tried to memorize everything Granger told her. McCord rolled her eyes. Great. An over-achiever.

"Ahh, Agent McCord!" Granger exclaimed when he spotted the team crowding around their team leader's desk with curious stares. "This is the newest member of your team. Agent Beckett, this is Special Supervisory Agent Rachel McCord."

"Hi, Kate Beckett," Kate held out her hand and gave the other woman a firm handshake. Just like McCord had done earlier, Kate did a quick mental assessment of the other woman. Her new team leader looked about as straight-laced as they come. She wore a dark casual business suit, little make up and her hair in a tight bun. Her broad shouldered stance spoke for itself. A woman who'd learned to run with the boys. Rachel McCord was every bit the no nonsense and driven investigator she used to be before Castle walked into her life. Kate wondered what  _her_  back-story was. Rick would have no doubt already spun a tale of espionage and wronged injustice by now. A smile hushed over her lips but she quickly caught herself and straightened up again.

"Well, Agent Beckett, I'll leave you to familiarize yourself with your new team. If you have any questions, I'm sure Agent McCord will be able to help you."

"Thank you, sir."

"Nice to meet you. These are Agents Hendricks and Richmond." McCord nodded her head sideways in the direction of the two men who jumped up from their chairs.

"Hi, nice to meet you, Agent Hendricks." She shook addressed the older man first. He looked to be in his late thirties.

"Matt, nice to meet you."

"Kate." They shook hands and Beckett turned to the younger agent who looked to be about ten years her junior. They must have recruited him straight out of college.

"Hi," Richmond squealed and Kate quirked her eyebrows amused at her new colleague's shy reaction.

"You must excuse our boy Richmond here. He's been fangirling ever since we found out you'll be joining our team." Matt explained and Kate's eyebrows shot up.

"Excuse me?"

"Well, Detective Beckett," McCord stressed her old title, "your reputation precedes you. Rookie boy here has read every Nikki Heat novel forwards and backwards at least three times."

Richmond blushed and smiled shyly at Kate.

"I see." Kate nodded at the other woman and then turned her attention back to the younger agent who still stared at her slack jawed and in awe.

"You gonna faint when I shake your hands?" Kate squared him with her eyes. "Cause I ain't pickin' you up. That wasn't listed under duties and responsibilities in the contract I just signed."

Matt's jaw hit the floor as he turned to Rachel and raised his hand for a high-five, "I like you already,  _Nikki Heat_."

Kate whirled around and fixated her new colleague sharply with a glare.

"You're gonna haze me until I earn my spurs, aren't you?"

"Pretty much." McCord grinned and Kate groaned.

"Don't worry, it's not too bad." Richmond finally said the first complete sentence. "I still live and eventually it stops."

"Oh, when did it stop for you?" Kate looked at him curiously.

"Oh," Richmond glanced down at his watch, "About twelve minutes ago when you stepped off the elevator."

"Alright, folks, let's get Agent Beckett settled in." Rachel pointed to a particular desk, "That one is yours. You'll partner with me at first to complete your training, then we'll rotate for a couple of weeks to find out how our new team works best. Any questions?"

"Yes, where can I get my credentials?" Kate tipped her finger against her visitor's badge.

"I'll take you!" Richmond immediately offered.

McCord rolled her eyes and looked at Kate questioningly. Beckett's only response was a shrug, after all she'd put up with Castle for five years.

"Alright Rookie, but don't scare her off." McCord nodded and watched the young man grab Beckett by her arm and literally drag her after him.

"Five bucks says fanboy asks her out on a date before they get into the elevator." Matt snuck up next to McCord and startled her a little bit.

"Geeze!" Rachel put her hand over her heart. "Five bucks says she breaks his and your heart before the day ends."

Matt raised his eyebrows.

"Don't tell me you didn't see that rock on her finger?"

"What rock?" Hendricks craned his neck trying to catch another glimpse of their new colleague.

"Some investigator you are. She's only wearing a diamond ring that rivals the Hope Diamond."

"What? You mean she's?" Matt's face fell.

"Engaged? Oh yeah and from the looks of it to a man who can afford it." McCord shook her head at her partner, "Seriously?"

Matt pulled a face, "What? No, I mean, it's a pity because it would have been kinda fun watching Richmond wooing her."

Rachel shot him an incredulous look, "Yeah right."

"Hey, can't blame a guy for trying. Did you see those legs?! She's like super hot."

"Well, don't let her hear you and Rookie discussing her assets, she looks like she can take you down blindfolded."

Matt huffed indignantly. "She's a lightweight. I can take her with one arm tied behind my back."

"Care to put your money where your mouth is?"

"You're on, McCord."

"Fine, I'll book the gym for a team sparring session tomorrow."

Meanwhile at the elevator, Kate felt Richmond's eyes staring at her transfixed. Realizing he wasn't going to press the call button anytime soon, she reached out and did so herself.

"So, it's really you?" He finally blurted out.

"Yep. I'm me." Kate tried to suppress a smile.

"Wow, I can't believe I get to work with Nikki Heat."

"Okay, Richmond, let's get this straight right away. I am  _not_  Nikki Heat.  _Nikki Heat_  is a fictional character made up by the writer Richard Castle. Go it?"

Richmond nodded but continued enthusiastically, "But it's you, right? I mean, you're  _the_  Kate Beckett, the inspiration for Nikki Heat, aren't you? You know Richard Castle."

Kate rolled her eyes, "I suppose so." She stepped into the elevator that had just arrived.

"Awesome!" Richmond squealed and followed her quickly inside. He pushed the correct floor for HR. "So what's it like working with Roach? You know I've always thought I myself am a lot like Raley. I'm kind of the media czar here."

Kate suppressed a timid smile. Oh that explained so much – the age, the fanboy – Richmond was their tech whiz kid. Probably graduated from MIT or CalTech and recruited off the campus nerd squad during the commencement speeches.

"So any audiovisual evidence you got – I'm your man." Kate tuned back into the rambling of her younger colleague who never seemed to stop talking. "Do you think Richard Castle will make Nikki Heat an FBI agent or something now that you're with us? Cause that would be so cool, if he wrote a book about our team. Even if he doesn't, do you still keep in touch with him? Cause I'd love to meet him and show him a few of my tricks that Raley could use in the next novel to track down a killer."

Kate took a deep breath as the elevator doors closed. This was going to be one long first day at work.


	2. Chapter 2

It had been a long day of paperwork and Kate was relieved to come back to a quiet hotel room. She fell exhausted onto the couch and checked her watch. As if right on cue, her pocket started vibrating. She quickly pulled out her phone and opened the message from Rick.

" _Where are you?"_

"Just got home. Call?" She texted back.

" _Can't. Still in meeting._ :( _"_

"Should I be worried?"

" _Nah, Gina and Paula are fighting over… I don't even know what. I think they may have forgotten I am here…"_

Kate chuckled. "Think you can sneak out for a quick good night call? I'm beat and don't know how much longer I can stay awake."

" _I would love to but I'm afraid if I move they realize I'm still here and pounce on me. They look like they're out for someone's blood and I'd rather it be Jared from catering who's apparently screwed up the arrangements for the book party."_

"I miss you."

" _I miss you, too. How was your first day at work? Did you play nice and make friends?"_

"Work was good. I think I'm working with your younger brother."

" _Huh?"_ She could almost see the confused look on his face.

"There's this really young college kid on my team who's the biggest fangirl of Nikki Heat I've ever seen."

" _Oh really? Do tell me!"_

"Like you need me to stroke your ego."

" _Not my ego…" He fired back quickly. Kate rolled her eyes._

"Sexting? At work?! Really Castle?"

" _What? A man has his needs and I haven't seen you since Sunday. Besides, Gina and Paula don't know I'm sexting you under the table."_

"This is getting dirtier by the minute. :)"

" _No. Dirty would be if I were doing you on the big conference table here."_

"Rick! Delete that!"

She could hear the sound of his laughter as if he were sitting right next to her. She wondered if he drew Paula's or Gina's unwanted attention, when she didn't hear back from him right away.

"I'm serious, Rick. I don't want anyone to see that! What if you get into an accident and CSU take your phone and find the message?"

" _Dating a cop was the worst idea I ever had. You're taking all the fun out of everything."_

"Just wait until you're married to a federal agent!" She shot back. "Now go and delete that damn message."

A few seconds later her phone lit up and vibrated in her hands.  _"Done!"_

"Thank you."

" _Okay, where were we? Right, first day at work. How'd it go? Did you catch a case already?"_

"No, just filling out paperwork. Long and boring day, possible carpal tunnel syndrome. Filling out forms is just not the same when you're not there to distract me with paperclip chains and origami."

" _I can have a thousand paper cranes delivered to your desk tomorrow. It'll be just as if I was there."_

Kate smiled, "Would you be upset if my wish were to never fill out another form in my entire life?"

" _A teensy weensy bit. But I'd still love you. So back to work… you've got fangirl already following you around, who else is on your team? Do you have a new partner?"_

"Fangirl is technically a fanboy whose name is Richmond."

" _Tell me he isn't your new partner!"_

"Jealous?"

" _No, more like worried a pimply faced frat boy who can't find his own ass with a map is supposed to keep you out of harm's way."_

"Relax, Rick. My new partner is actually also the team leader so I'll be in good hands." She could hear his sigh of relief all the way from New York. "And then there's Matt. He's a bit older and another senior agent. They're actually really good people. They kind of remind me of our old team at the twelfth."

"How so?"

"Well, Rachel our team leader reminds me a lot of how I was before I met you. The whole team seems to get along really well. And Richmond is like Ryan on steroids."

"That bad?"

"He calls himself the media czar, you know after Raley from the books."

"That bad?"

"Yep. Wouldn't shut up about Nikki Heat this and Richard Castle that. Reminds me a lot of when you started at the precinct and Kevin carried around a book of yours all the time, trying to impress his celebrity crush."

"He did? I never noticed!"

She could practically see the little pout on his face.

" _Are they giving you a hard time about the Nikki Heat thing?"_

"Just a little hazing."

" _Do you need me to come?"_

"And do what? Rough them up with your sharp tongue?"

" _No but I could talk to them. Explain. Or I could bring Ryan and Espo to rough them up a little."_

"No, it's fine. They're not mean about it. Just a little hazing for the new kid on the block."

" _But you're no rookie. You're a tough and savvy NYPD detective with an outstanding record. They should show you some respect."_

"That's sweet of you, Castle. But first I gotta earn my respect around here. I'm a big girl, I can handle myself. And if it gets too much, I'll just channel Lanie, when they get too obnoxious."

"Lanie?"

Kate grinned and quickly explained her sassy comeback when she got introduced to the celebrity-struck Richmond.

" _Ain't picking you up from the floor when you faint? That doesn't sound like Lanie. Much too harmless."_

"Well, I figured threatening to smack him on my first day at work wasn't going to earn me any brownie points."

" _Are you sure you don't want me to come?"_

"Yes. I want you to stay in New York and finish the arrangements for your book launch party, so you can come and spend the weekend with me."

" _Are we still going to look at houses and apartments?"_

"Unless we catch a high priority case, I guess so."

" _Good, I've already looked online and contacted some real estate agents to send me brochures."_

"Just don't go overboard, Castle. I know you said it's a good investment for your royalties to buy property in our nation's capital, but we know the housing market is slowly recovering at best."

" _I thought you said you trusted me doing the preliminary scouting."_

"And I do. You know me and you know my taste, I have no doubts you'll pick out listings we'll both like. I just don't want you go and buy the White House."

" _I don't think that's for sale."_

"You know what I mean."

" _Yes, I do. And I can't wait to see your face when we go look at the places. You're gonna love them all and will have a hard time to pick one out."_

Beckett stared at her phone in silence. House hunting. She was really going house hunting with her fiancé this weekend. When the hell had that happened? The past month had gone by in a blur. She left New York City only two weeks after she had accepted Rick's proposal to start her training in Quantico. Kate had to learn a whole new set of procedures and undergo specialized tactical training as well as prove her marksmanship on the FBI issued service weapons. She had barely time to process the change of status in their relationship. Rick had stayed behind in New York City to wrap up loose ends, since he couldn't join her at the FBI Academy anyway. When she'd passed her qualifying exams last Friday and moved out of the dorms in Quantico, Rick had joined her for the weekend and booked them a nice hotel suite at the W. They did a little bit of location scouting in the neighborhoods Castle had researched while she underwent training and came to the conclusion that Rick would do most of the legwork to find them a new place to stay. That way she could focus on work. Kate had put up a bit of a fight, when Rick had insisted they keep the suite until they found their permanent place but eventually acquiesced when he gave her that slightly salacious but mostly impish grin and called it an engagement gift.

Her phone vibrated incessantly in her hand brought her out of her reverie.

" _Kate?"_

" _Kate?!"_

" _Kate, you still there?"_

" _Honey, you ok?"_

"What did I say about pet names?"

" _I was just about to step outside and call you, risking Paula and Gina's wrath."_

"Just lost in thought…"

" _Good thoughts?"_

"Thinking about you. How much I miss you. How much fun we had on the weekend."

" _I miss you, too, Kate. So much."_

"I can't wait to get our own place here."

" _Me neither. I can't wait for us to live together out in the open. No more hiding. No more secrets."_

"The lying killer was right."

"We didn't drown in them. We're just poor at communicating but that's going to change, I promise."

Screw it, he'd just have to deal with Paula and Gina ganging up on him. She quickly scrolled to the top of her screen and pressed the call button.

"Why'd you do that? You startled the hyenas." He greeted her with a whine.

"Because I needed to hear your voice before I go to bed." She blushed, thankful he couldn't see her. "What about the hyenas? Are the salivating and licking their mouths yet or do you think you can get some privacy?"

"Oddly enough, they cast me an annoyed looked and went right back arguing. I think we may get away with it."

"Good, because I miss you and I wanted to say good night and tell you I love you."

"I love you, too. Be careful ok?"

"You know I am. Besides we've not been assigned our own case yet. Right now we're helping out two other teams."

"I…just… be safe. I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you. I love you, Kate."

"I promise I'll be careful. There feel better now?"

"I know you think I'm childish and overprotective or whatever but… I don't know these people. I have to trust them that they can keep you safe and out of harm's way."

"Nothing's gonna happen, Rick."

"Just don't make me a widower before we've had a chance to announce our engagement, ok?"

"I'll try. It's on top of my list of daily goals."

"Good that's all I ask. Now go to bed and get some sleep, so you'll be alert and on guard tomorrow."

"Ok. Talk to you tomorrow night?"

"Always."

"Love you."

"Love you, too."

Rick hung up and turned around to be met with the shocked faces of his book agent and ex-wife. They stared at him with wide eyes and open mouths. They weren't even salivating. They looked ready to go in for the kill. This was bad. Very, very bad. What had he gotten himself into now?


	3. Chapter 3

"So how about that Jared, huh?" Castle clapped his hands together.

"You're engaged?" The women chorused and Castle regretted that he was not in the same position as Kate, who could just simply thrust out her left hand and let the engagement ring dazzle and distract people from their questions. He shoved his hands into his pockets and stared at them sheepishly.

"When were you going to tell me?" Paula shook her head at him in irritation. "The book party's only two weeks away, how on earth am I supposed to turn it into an engagement party on such sort notice?"

"No, Paula." Castle shook his head adamantly.

"What do you mean no?"

"There'll be no flashy engagement party this time. She's not that kind of girl. She's not in it for the fame and money. She couldn't care less for the media hype around Richard Castle, she just wants Richard Rodgers, the goofy guy who makes her smile at the end of a long day. She just wants me. She loves me for who I really am. In spite of who I really am."

"Ricky, you're killing me here. I've got a book to promote and you know this kind of news will generate free publicity until Deadly Heat drops in four and half weeks, if not longer. You can't drop a bombshell like this on me and expect me to do nothing about it!"

"I mean it, Paula. Don't leak this behind my back or we're through. She's just started her new job in DC and I don't want reporters hassling her at work. Things are tough enough for us as they are. The last thing we need is the press poking their nose where it doesn't belong."

"Who's that girl anyway that she's got you wrapped around her little finger like that? I hope she's worth it!" Paula grumbled.

"Isn't that obvious?" Gina, who had been quietly studying her ex-husband the whole time, finally broke her silence. "He's marrying Kate."

"Kate? Who?" Paula looked at them confused. She hated it when she felt left out of the loop.

Gina rolled her eyes and tapped her fingers against the large Deadly Heat cardboard poster propped on the easel next to her. Paula's jaw hit the floor.

"Nooo! Thaaat Kate?" She drew out the vocals and looked at Rick for confirmation, who only shrugged his shoulders. "I thought she hated your guts? The last time I saw her was at the party for Heat Wave and you guys were to jumping down each other's throats."

"Well, and now we're jumping each other's bones." Rick shrugged with a smirk.

Paula gasped and clutched her hand to her chest as realization hit her. "Oh my god! You're marrying Nikki Heat! Rick, you're engaged to Nikki Heat."

"Would you stop calling her that? She's not Nikki Heat. Her name's Kate."

"But you're marrying freakin' Nikki Heat!" Paula exclaimed. "Don't you remember the sensational run we've had with Derrick Storm when you hooked up with Gina. Writer and publisher was great. Writer and muse? That's better than great, Ricky, that's awesome with a capital A."

"Would you please stop looking at my engagement like a cash cow you can milk? This is my personal life we're talking about. I love this woman and I will not let anyone exploit that love for money or personal gain!" Castle erupted in anger.

"Gina, will you please talk some sense into your ex?" Paula rolled her eyes. "Okay, Ricky, let me get this straight. You just told your publisher and book agent that you've proposed to the woman on whom you based an entire series of best selling novels, which for all intents and purposes mirror your real life and you seriously expect us not to milk this for the release party of the latest novel in said series?"

"Umm, yes!" Rick smiled relieved.

"Is he always that dumb?" Paula turned to Gina, "Whatever did you see in him?"

"I don't see what the big deal is? Nothing has changed!"

"Everything has changed, Ricky. I'm sorry but I can't sit on this. Do you have any idea how much publicity this will generate? The fans will eat out of your hand at book signings; they've always loved Detective Beckett. I'm pretty sure quite a number of them ship you and Beckett in real life. The pre-sales will be off the charts because everyone can't wait to read about you and Kate in the latest book. A story like that is too good an opportunity to pass on. I can see already the headlines: Life imitates art, or is it art imitating life? Richard Castle to marry his longtime muse."

"That's not how it happened and you know that. I didn't sleep with Kate while I wrote the books, so don't make it sound so dirty."

Paula cast him a look of disbelief.

"Well, fine. We hooked up just before I started Deadly Heat. But that's not the point. I purposely kept Rook and Heat's characters separate from me and Kate."

"That's not how the fans and the media will see it and you know it." Paula interjected. "There's enough in Rook to know he's based on you for anyone familiar with your life story. They'll apply the same logic to Kate and Nikki Heat."

"I've dated other women over the past few years." He looked at Gina and pointed at her, "We even made it to page six with our public break up!"

"Which the press will now say was because you've been screwing your muse on the side all the time." Paula shook her head. "Please Rick, at least let me do a press release. You know it's always better when the information comes from us, saves us a lot of damage control afterwards."

"They'll say that anyway." He pouted with a guilty look. And they wouldn't be completely wrong. He may not have cheated on Gina with Kate by sleeping with her but he certainly lusted for her since the day they met.

"We could do a press conference before the party. Kate doesn't even have to be there. You can field the questions alone, just in case it turns awful. I'll call in a few favors from friends and we plant questions with the promise of exclusive interviews afterwards. Maybe with Kate there as an added incentive. Provided they refrain from printing defamation and lies. Hopefully we can steer them away from the gossipy part and get them to focus on the romantic part about the writer falling in love with his muse after all those years of shadowing her at work."

"Let me talk to Kate about it over the weekend." Castle finally acquiesced, knowing Paula had a point. Gina nodded at him in agreement. "Don't do anything before you hear back from me. I mean it, Paula. Don't leak it "for my own good", if you can't promise me this doesn't leave this room, then I'll dash down to legal and bring back a lawyer to draft a confidentiality agreement."

"Good luck with that, legal gets to leave at 5pm like normal people, unlike us who have to work insane hours." Paula grumbled. "But okay, fine. My lips are sealed until I hear from you. But don't wait too long. I need to know by Monday to make necessary arrangements. If it's too short notice, I won't be able to call in too many favors."

Rick nodded, then he turned to his ex-wife. "I'm sorry, Gina, this is not how I wanted you to find out."

"Yeah, I think I would've preferred reading about it in the Ledger." She gave a humorless laugh. "I just hope she doesn't break your heart again." Gina sent her ex a knowing look.

"Not gonna happen." Rick shook his head. "This is the real deal, Gina. I love her and she loves me. This is the best relationship I've ever head." He winced when he realized what he'd just said. "Sorry, I don't mean it like that."

"No, it's okay, Rick. I'm a big girl. We gave it two shots, that's more than most people. But I won't care if she's just taken a bullet to her heart, when she runs away from you again and you can't finish your next novel because thinking about her hurts too much. I won't go easy on you, I'll just cut you loose next time."

"Fair enough." Rick nodded.

"It's getting late," Gina announced checking her watch, "and I'm hungry. How about we stop here and pick up again in the morning? Maybe Jared has come up with a solution by then as well."

"Sounds good to me?" Rick looked at Paula who nodded. They started to gather their personal belongings and threw out the trash.

"Wait a moment!" Paula suddenly said, "Did you just say Kate works in DC now?"

"About that, I was going to tell you tonight but then you two got sidetracked fighting over who gets to behead Jared."

"Richard Edgar Castle," Paula hissed and moved to block his exit to the door, "when were you going to tell me that you're moving to DC?"

Dammit, Rick thought. So close. So very close. This was going to be a long night. If he was going to make it out alive of this meeting at all. He wondered if Ryan and Esposito would find his mangled body in a dark side alley in the wee hours of tomorrow morning.


	4. Chapter 4

When Kate arrived at the gym the next morning, Rachel and Matt were already there warming up. Since she had already completed her morning run along the Potomac, Beckett quickly changed into her work out clothes and wrapped her hands for the punching bag.

Matt let out a wolf whistle, when she returned from the locker room. "Well, Nikki, you certainly live up to your last name."

Kate just rolled her eyes and walked right past him.

"Ignore him." Rachel sent her colleague a dirty look. "You know there's a fine line between rookie hazing and sexual harassment. Try not to make her file a complaint against you by the end of her first week, ok?"

"Killjoy," Matt grumbled and nodded at his partner to take up her position on the mat.

Beckett checked her tapes, before she let her right fist connect with the sandbag. She was determined not to show how much the Nikki Heat teasing was actually grating on her nerves, so hitting the bag was a very welcome outlet for her frustrations. She could hear Rachel and Matt engage in a sparring session behind her back, while she buried her fists into the punching bag again and again.

A few minutes later, McCord called her over, "How about replacing your punching bag with a moving target?" She grinned and pointed her thumb over her shoulder at Hendricks.

Kate nodded and checked her wraps.

"Alright, Nikki, show us what you've got." Matt grinned at her and went into a defensive position. Beckett danced a little around the cocky senior agent, studying his moves and body postures. Then she feigned an attack on his left but actually kicked her right leg behind the hollow of his knees, and effectively swiped his legs from under him.

Matt wheezed and looked at their newest agent shocked. Rachel's face appeared in his vision, blocking his view of Beckett, as his colleague grinned at him. "Told ya, she could take you down blindfolded. Pay up!"

"I'm not done with her yet." Matt sprung back into action and shoved McCord out of his way. "Alright, Nikki, it's on."

Beckett blocked his attacks as best as she could, hissing in between, "You. Know. That. Nikki. Heat. Is. A. Fictional. Character. Don't. You?"

"Wouldn't know from they way Rookie is crushing on you." Matt grinned back, and, finding Kate's weak spot in her defense, managed a hit and brought her down on her knees. Beckett tapped out, seeing no way of launching a counter attack. "Just let me know when you're ready to capitulate."

"Hope you've got time," Kate pulled her arm back when Matt released it and jumped back to her feet, "I'm not a quitter."

"Neither am I." Hendricks cocked his head. There was something in Beckett's eyes that told him this was more than a line for her. They'd all read her file, even though no one but Rachel was supposed to. Of course they knew about the attempt on her life, and her quick recovery and return to work. They also knew about her mother's murder, and really, it was a matter of public record anyway. They could have looked it up on the internet, her file just had the reader's digest version.

"Care to raise the stakes? Two out of three. If I win, you stop calling me Nikki."

"And if I win?"

"I won't file that sexual harassment suit."

"Oh, you're on, Nikki."

Rachel interrupted the staring contest between her colleagues. "If you're going to keep up with us, you gotta work on your defense, Beckett. Your skills are really good, but you have this combination you like to use when you attack. It's like a rhythm. That gave Matt the advantage to anticipate your next move, find the weakness in your balance and take you down."

Kate nodded, waiting and hoping on further instruction how to improve her close combat skills.

"Now, if you change your stance like this," McCord moved behind her and adjusted her feet position, "you make it harder for Matt to find purchase to throw you off your balance." To prove her point, Hendricks kicked his leg into the side of Kate's kneecap, so she could feel the impact.

"Good, very good." Rachel nodded. "And now instead of the left-right-left-left combination you like to use so much, how about you go like this?" Rachel stepped away from behind Kate, so she could demonstrate with Matt the new move. "The left-right-left-left is a nice combo to use as a surprise but if you return to it like clockwork, it's no more effective than a right hook."

Kate nodded and took up her position again, this time as the aggressor. She scored a couple of hits against Hendricks but wasn't able to bring him down, when she heard noise at the back of the room.

She glanced up for a nanosecond to assess the situation and then connected her fist with Matt's jaw, eliciting a groan from him. He'd still been distracted by Richmond's entrance, and Kate took advantage of his lack of focus to score a point. Before he knew what hit him, Kate grasped his arm, moved it behind his back at an awkward angle as she rounded him and with a quick press of her heel into his kneecap, Hendricks was kneeling in front of her wincing and whimpering.

Kate's only mistake was to relax her hold on him after a triumphant cry of "Ha!", which Matt immediately used to his own advantage. Freeing his hand from her grip, he swiveled around on his knees, using his momentum to head butt Kate into her stomach. A slight ooof left her mouth with a rush of breath as she recovered from the blow that caused her to stagger slightly back. By the time she'd regained her composure, Hendricks was already back on his feet, locking the side of his leg behind her knees and unsettled Kate's balance with one swift swipe across her legs. Beckett looked almost comical as she floundered backwards, looking for purchase in vain, landing hard on her back. Matt followed her to make sure she stayed down but before he could secure the position, Kate rolled onto her side, taking hold of his legs. With a quick jerk of his right leg and a head butt into his groin, Matt folded like a sack of potatoes.

Kate jumped back up to her feet, eyeing Matt suspiciously but her sparring partner tapped the mat to indicate he was out. His eyes were squeezed shut and his breath came in short pants accompanied by suppressed groans. When Beckett looked up, she stared into the open-mouthed, horrified face of Richmond, who'd quickly put his own hands across his crotch protectively.

"Nice one." Rachel nodded at Kate. "Though we don't usually head butt our colleagues in the groin. We don't want the office to get sued by angry wives. Luckily for you, Matt's an old hound dog, so no women will be complaining if he's out of commission for a while."

"Funny. Not." Matt moaned.

Kate stepped forward and tipped Matt's head back with the tip of her index finger on his forehead, "It's Agent Beckett."

Matt closed his eyes and grinned, "You look very hot when you role play, Detective Heat."

Kate rolled her eyes and looked over at Rachel who threw her hands up into the air. "Is he always that stupid or is it something I said?"

"Bet's a bet, Matt. Honor it." McCord glared at her cocky colleague. Seriously what the hell was wrong with him?

"Ah but the deal was two out of three. And right now it's one each, and besides, you cheated, Nikki." Hendricks defended himself.

"In your dreams!" Kate growled, "I won fair and square. Not my fault you've got the attention span of a squirrel."

Matt narrowed his eyes at Beckett, while they heard Rachel and Richmond snicker in the background.

"Squirrel. I like that one." McCord chuckled.

"Ahh, but you forget that your first take down didn't really count since I disarmed you. That's what you get for showing weakness."

"Aright, Squirrel. Off the mat." McCord started to diffuse the situation before their morning would be spent discussing technicalities. "No one won the bet then. Rookie, your turn."

Richmond looked up and shook his head vehemently. "I can't."

Thinking he might have been slightly intimidated by her take down of Hendricks, Kate smiled at him. "Don't worry. I don't bite." He still looked completely aghast at the idea of fighting her, his head shaking from side to side. "I only head butt." Kate deadpanned but the joke didn't have its desired effect.

"Not your call, Rookie. On the mat in three or I'll write you up for insubordination."

"Please, Rachel. Don't make me fight her!" He looked at her pleadingly. "She's…" He lowered his voice, "Nikki Heat. I can't hurt Nikki. Don't make me hurt Nikki."

Before Rachel could respond, Kate stalked over to the other side of the gym and grabbed Richmond by his arm, a little bit too violently. "Let's be clear, Rookie. I'm not Nikki Heat, I'm not a doll, I won't break, you're not gonna hurt me with our little sparring session. I've been blown up and frozen and shot at, I think I can deal with your rookie moves."

Richmond throw a pleading look over his shoulder, asking Rachel silently for help. McCord shook her head. Even if she wanted to put an end to the situation, she knew that Kate was now on a mission to prove to Rookie that she was one of them and not the fragile princess of his wet dreams.

"Hit me with your best." Kate took up her position and encouraged Rookie to be the aggressor. Her brain would replay the next moments in slow motion for days to come, but she would not be able to figure out where she had gone wrong. In fifteen seconds flat, Kate Beckett found herself pinned down on the mattress with Richmond sitting on top of her, cutting off her airflow.

Seeing the panic rise in Kate's eyes, as she wildly tapped her hand on the mat, Richmond let go and looked accusingly at Rachel and Matt. "You didn't tell her?!"

Kate's hand immediately flew to her throat, rubbing the skin. "Tell me what?" She wheezed out. "Geez, Rookie. What the fuck is wrong with you?" She coughed and the burning sensation in her throat brought back unpleasant memories from a rooftop a little over a year ago. "Where'd you learn that?"

"I know, I know. Nerd like me with skills like that? Let's just say my father and brothers have shown me a couple of moves over the years."

"Seriously?" Kat eyed her new colleague suspiciously.

"My dad's a green beret. My older brother is a marine. My younger brother is a seal." Rookie grinned at her and deadpanned. "This is how we cuddle in my family!" Richmond held out his hand to help her up. "You ok? I tried not to squeeze too hard but it's like a reflex to me."

Kate let out a nervous chuckle, "And here I thought you were scared of me because I almost castrated Matt."

"That did look painful!" Richmond laughed. "But no. And I thought you must be slightly insane to be so gung-ho to spar with me but seeing as those two clowns didn't tell you," he shot Rachel and Matt a dirty glare, "it makes so much more sense."

All of a sudden all their phones went off, causing each team member to raise their eyebrows in surprise at each other.

"Alright. Hit the shower folks, looks like this one's a biggie. I'll take the call."

Fifteen minutes later, Agent McCord's team was sitting behind their computers, phones tucked under their chins, running traces on phones, financial records and checking databases. They hadn't been told any details but apparently there had been a security breach at the NSA and it was all hands on deck. The eighth floor was abuzz with activity, as people ran from cubicle to cubicle shouting commands at each other. Kate could already tell that the next few days would be crazy if they couldn't track down their traitor right away and the shit would really hit the fan, if the press found out and their worst fears came true and they were on the brink of another act of terrorism.

 


	5. Chapter 5

  
Beckett spent the next few days with McCord in the car canvassing neighborhoods and checking up on leads along with the other teams. Right now they were on their way back from Arlington, after following up another lead in Crystal City that brought them nowhere.

Kate sighed in frustration. She'd need to call Castle and cancel their weekend plans. Unless they caught whoever was behind the security leak in the next two days, she'd have no day off. As of now, they'd been only told the bare minimum of information. A red flag at NSA headquarters was triggered over the past few days when journalists started making inquiries about some top secret government programs. Neither Kate nor Rachel or any other team for that matter were told which programs or what they were for, as this information was above their pay grade, but it started to look more and more like an inside job.

Right now, the members of the AG's task force teams were cross-referencing employee records and verifying their whereabouts, one by one. Rachel and Kate had been following up on Mark Bennett, who worked for a DoD contractor but a quick knock on the neighbor's door revealed that Mark Bennett had rushed home to Iowa to be with his wife while she gave birth to their first child.

The silence in the SUV was interrupted by McCord's phone.

"Go ahead Matt, you're on speaker."

"Have you seen the news?"

"Nope, we're in the car on our way back to the office." Rachel replied.

"The secret's out. It's all over the news." Matt explained, "Apparently the Guardian broke the story about how the American government spies on its own citizens."

"Shut the front door!" Kate shouted and exchanged equally stupefied looks with Rachel.

"Are you serious?" Rachel asked.

"Dead serious! It's like a beehive here. Get back as fast as you can. It's all hands on deck until we catch this guy. Meanwhile, Rookie's gonna send Kate a summary to brief you on what we've been able to piece together from media outlets and our own research."

"Ok. We should be there in about twenty."

"See you when you get here. Bye." Hendricks hung up and Kate's phone vibrated indicating the arrival of a new mail. She swiped her thumb across the screen to access her mail program and quickly opened the message from Richmond.

"Okay, we've still got no name but Hollister's team seems to have narrowed down the list of suspects to employees from Booz Allen Hamilton, a contractor at the NSA. They're still checking all their employee records but there are thousands of them and it's quite impossible to pick out a needle from the haystack. Provided, it even was someone from Booz Allen Hamilton. I'm not sure I buy into Hollister's reasoning but we've got to start somewhere." Kate relayed the information to her new partner.

"Does it say anything about the information leaked?"

"Yep, nothing concrete on the rumored government program, but the Guardian printed a story about a court order, which revealed how the government cracked down on Verizon to release confidential phone records of customers."

"Shit, this is… bigger than we thought." McCord cast Kate a glance.

"Yep, there goes our weekend." Kate huffed. She'd definitely have to call Castle now and tell him he could stay in New York. "At least it's not a terrorist attack."

"Big plans with your fiancé?" Rachel raised her eyebrows in question.

"What?" Kate looked at her confused.

Rachel tipped her ring finger, "Weekend plans with your man?"

"No, I mean yes. But not like that. We were supposed to look at apartments on Saturday. We're still looking for a place."

"You know that the department can help you with that? We've got such a high turnover of government employees, they're leasing apartments to new employees temporarily."

"I know but I want to avoid moving a lot and he wants to own the place. We've got our stuff pretty much packed up in NYC and we're living in a hotel suite right now, but I'd just like to find a place and settle down again. I hate living out of suitcases."

McCord raised her eyebrows, when Kate mentioned the suite but judging from the engagement ring the other woman was wearing, her fiancé could probably afford to foot the bill.

"Do you have your eyes set on a particular neighborhood?" Rachel asked.

"We thought buying a townhouse in Georgetown might be nice. That's close enough for a short commute to work."

"Sure, if you can afford it."

"Where do you live?"

"Near Alexandria. I took advantage of the housing offered by the agency. It's fairly cheap for the location and only a short drive to work."

"But you're renting."

"Leasing but yeah. Are you sure you wanna buy? In this economy?"

Kate shrugged her shoulders.

"You'll spend five years in DC at best before you get reassigned, assuming you want to be promoted and not remain the lowest man on the totem pole for the rest of your life?"

"I thought we work directly for the AG? Doesn't that require us to be stationed in DC?"

Rachel shrugged her shoulders, "Politics. People tend to get tired of it and eager to move on to greener pastures."

"How long have you been doing this job?"

"About a year, little over a year."

"What did you do before?"

"I worked WIT-SEC as a US Marshall in Arizona a couple years and then for the bureau here in the Metro area, before they recruited me for this job." Rachel explained.

"Do you like it?"

"Hell yeah!" McCord grinned at her, "I thrive on the adrenaline when we get cases like this. Makes you feel kind of important protecting a whole nation and not just one lousy witness."

Kate nodded slowly.

"What about you? Like it here so far?"

Kate shrugged her shoulders, "Haven't been here long enough to form an opinion, honestly."

"Fair enough," McCord replied, "you'll like it, you'll see. When I started a year ago in another team, it took me a while to get used to being part of a team and not leading it." Beckett raised her eyebrows in surprise but let the other woman continue. "It's weird I know, so really the way I've been handling our team is as far as I'm concerned we're all equals. Well except for Rookie, he's well… you know. But you and Matt have all put in considerable time as team leaders yourself, so don't hold back."

"Ok."

"I mean it. You got a theory, you share it with the team. You turn up a lead, it's yours and you run it down. There's only one rule: you don't go rogue. If you've got something, you share it with a partner. You never go anywhere without back up. I've read your file, Beckett, and you have a tendency to bend the rules and investigate on your own. Your previous captains wrote you up for going rogue a couple of times."

"Those were special circumstances." Kate interjected.

"Doesn't matter, Kate. I don't care much for who gets the credit at the end of the day, but someone on my team gets hurt, my head rolls. This is not the NYPD, this is no longer a playground. And I like my pretty head just where it is. Do you understand me?"

"Yessir." Beckett replied instinctively, which cracked McCord up.

"Oh we've got to train that out of you."

"Sorry, reflex." Damn you, Gates!

"It's alright, as long as we're clear."

"No running around with scissors unsupervised, got it." Kate joked.

"I'm not kidding, Beckett. The stakes in DC are higher. Here you don't just get written up for insubordination and suspended for a few months without pay. You screw up, they fire you. End of story. And let me tell you, you get fired by the AG, your career is basically over. If you're lucky, you'll find a job as some sheriff somewhere in Montana. At best."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Good, because as long as you're on my team, you're my responsibility. If I catch you investigating on your own, you're off the team. So whatever little investigation you've been running out of your old precinct regarding your mother's murder, it's got to stop. I can't have that."

Beckett gasped and looked at McCord shocked.

"What?" Rachel turned her head and glanced at Kate, "You think I'm stupid? You may have been able to smuggle your little secret past your previous captains but I can read and I can put two and two together. I may not know who it is, but I know you've gotten yourself in way over your head."

"It's over." Kate sighed. "I know who did it and why, that's all I ever wanted."

"Don't lie to me, Beckett." McCord stopped at a red light and glared at Kate. "We both know all you ever wanted was take his life in exchange for your mother's." There was a glint smoldering in Rachel's eyes that startled Beckett. She recognized the slow burning ember of vengeance from years looking into the mirror. Kate wondered if she'd just inadvertently uncovered the first peel of the McCord onion. What she found was not what she'd expected. From the looks of it, and especially the way she'd said it, Rachel McCord experienced something similar as she had that put her on her own personal vendetta.

"He's untouchable. There's nothing I can do about it anyway, so you don't have to worry."

"Is he still coming after you?" McCord glanced at Kate, "I need to know that to keep my team safe."

"No, we've reached… an agreement of sorts." Kate explained. "And FYI, you're wrong. I had the chance to kill him twice, and he's still running around very much alive."

"That is… commendable and probably not what I would have done in your place but it doesn't change facts. In reality, it probably makes you want to see him behind bars even more. But I'm warning you, if I catch you using federal resources for your personal vendetta, I'll have your ass for dinner, Beckett. Are we clear?"

Beckett nodded. Damn, why hadn't she thought about that before? In all her deliberating of whether to take the job or not, she'd not once thought about the possibility of going after Bracken. She'd been so caught up in the mess she'd made with Castle, it hadn't occurred to her that a job with the AG meant new resources like free access to federal databases and leverage to finally take down her mother's killer. "Crystal clear. Anything else?"

"Yes, lose those heels!"

"What?!" Kate looked horrified.

"I don't care how well you can run in those heels across the streets of New York, they're a liability. I don't want to lose my suspect because you sprained your ankle."

Kate almost scowled, "I've been chasing suspects for years in those heels and not once I lost one because of them. I need those heels, they ground me as a cop. They're who I am!"

"Ah, but you're no longer a detective, are you?" McCord looked at her pointedly, before she turned off the street to pull into the garage of their office building. Kate grumbled something about technicalities and Montana being a nice place around this time of the year.

 


	6. Chapter 6

Instead of her long-awaited weekend with Castle, Beckett spent Friday night in an unmarked car with Hendricks parked outside a brownstone building. McCord and Richmond were hiding around the corner in a surveillance van camouflaged as a carpet cleaning company.

They were currently waiting for Jessica Flinn, former senior analyst at Booz Allen Hamilton, who had dropped off the face of the earth three months ago, after she'd been let go. Initially, Flinn had refused to accept her severance package and threatened to sue the company for wrongful termination of contract. Two days later she disappeared, never to be heard again. Through friends and casual acquaintances they were able to track down a former boyfriend in Richmond, Virginia, where she might have gone into hiding. Therefore, Rachel had packed up Rookie and his toys in the surveillance van earlier in the afternoon to make the two-hour trip to the capital of Virginia. Matt and Kate trailed behind them in the dark sedan and parked on the opposite street side in the quiet residential neighborhood where Jessica Flinn presumably waited for the storm to blow over. That was four hours ago and no one had entered or left the building.

Kate's phone started ringing and she quickly pulled the device out of her back pocket to decline the call. Before she could put it on silent, a series of loud pings resonated through the car, indicating a couple of new text messages.

"Sorry," Beckett smiled an apology and opened her texts.

"That your fiancé?"

Her what? She looked at Matt dumbfounded for a split second before she recalled the ring that adorned her left hand now. She'd been wearing it ever since Castle slipped it on her ring finger in the park, almost over a month ago… well except for the few weeks in Quantico, when she was wrestling through mud and obstacle courses. It still felt so new and Kate hadn't fully processed the fundamental changes to her life she'd made in the past few months. She considered lying to Matt for a brief moment but then realized they'd find out about her engagement after the book launch party and he'd already seen the ring anyway. And it's not like she was hiding it from anyone, she'd just prefer they didn't know who her fiancé was yet.

"Uhh, yes."

"Must be hard," Matt commented.

"Why?"

"You here, he back in New York."

"What makes you think? He's actually moving to DC with me."

"I just assumed, since you haven't introduced us yet."

Beckett let out a humorless laugh, "You mean like you introduced me to your girlfriends."

"Unfortunately there's no one to introduce since that position is currently vacant, though if you want to volunteer…"

"Engaged, remember?" Beckett cut him off, holding up her ring finger. "Is that why you're trying so hard? You want to see if you can show the new girl a good time while she's pining away for her guy who stayed behind?"

"What? No." Matt shook his head. "I just want to torture Rookie a little bit. See if I can get you out on a date before him."

"Good to know I don't get a say in who gets to date me. Listen carefully, because I'm only going to say this once. Just because we're working together, we're not going to be BFFs. We haven't even been working together for a week, there'll be no after work drinks huddled around a bar where you get to make fun of me and my boyfriend. And for the record, I am very happy in the relationship I'm in right now. And even if I were single, I wouldn't date you if you were the last man on earth."

"Ouch, you wound me, Nikki. Was it something I said?"

"You just answered your own question." Kate huffed.

"So who's the lucky guy?" Matt asked unperturbed.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Kate gave him a saccharine smile.

"Oh come on, Beckett, we're on the same team. Throw a guy a bone. What's his name? At least let me know my competition."

Beckett's only reply was her famous eye-roll. Matt Hendricks must suffer from selective hearing syndrome. Her phone started vibrating in her hand. She didn't even have to look to know it was Castle again. Unfortunately an oncoming car bathed the interior of their sedan in just enough light for Hendricks to make out Castle's face and name on her display, before she pressed him away.

Matt raised an eyebrow looking at Kate with renewed interest, but she didn't notice, since she was busy declining his call.

"You should take it." Hendricks said.

"What?" Kate's head snapped up when she noticed the change in tone from her new partner. The teasing was gone and replaced by something she couldn't quite pinpoint. A certain somberness and... comprehension?

"Seriously. Go ahead make that call."

She wasn't going to talk to Rick with Hendricks eavesdropping beside her. She could only imagine what he would do if he found out she was marrying Richard Castle.

"At least send him a text saying you're alright and on a stake out. No sense in making him worry. Poor guy's probably half sick by now because you've gone incommunicado." There was something in Hendricks' voice that gave Kate the distinct feeling Matt knew what he was talking about. Maybe she'd pegged him wrong. He may not have a current girlfriend but he was probably speaking from experience. Forming relationships while a cop in New York was tough enough, she could only imagine what it must be like to date when you work for the feds. Every couple of months a new assignment would take you halfway across the country and communication would essentially be cut off as long as the case was hot.

Beckett frowned at Matt, not knowing what to say. Why was he being so nice to her all of a sudden? Her phone started ringing in her hand again.

"Go ahead, take it. I'm not even here." He nodded at her encouragingly. "I promise I won't tease you about your fiancé, Nikki, as long as you don't go all lovey-dovey on me."

"Hey," Beckett finally accepted the call with another one of her trademark eye-rolls and greeted her fiancé. She'd keep it short and sweet, avoid names and other personal references and keep Matt as much in the dark about her love life as possible.

"Hey! Yes, my name is Richard Castle and I'd like to file a missing persons report. I'm looking for my fiancée; she's a beautiful, gorgeous brunette, about 5 feet 9, with legs that go on forever. At first I thought she was just busy at work, and you have to wait 24 hours before you can file an official report anyway, then I thought she was just ignoring my calls but now it's been three days and I'm starting to worry she's decomposing in a hidden alcove at one of your countless memorials in your beautiful city."

"Yeah, sorry about that."

"What's going on, Kate? You never have time to talk. I left you like a hundred messages. You never pick up the phone anymore when I call. Is this how it's going to be from now on?"

"I said I'm sorry. I can't really talk right now," Kate was careful to leave out Castle's name, which was already on the tip of her tongue, "I'm on a stake out."

"With whom? Fan girl?"

"Nope", Kate glanced at Hendricks in the driver's seat next to her, "with Squirrel."

Matt snapped his head around and glared at her. She shrugged at him as if to say, 'What? Long as you keep calling me Nikki, I keep calling you Squirrel.'

"What? Who?"

Rick's voice brought her attention back to the phone call. "Hendricks. Long story, I'll tell you when I see you next."

"The guy who keeps calling you Nikki?"

"Uh-huh."

"Let me talk to him."

"What? No!" Kate objected vociferously, "Why'd you want to do that?"

"Because he's on a stake out with you, and I'm your old partner, so I know a little bit about keeping you safe and I want him to know, partner to partner, that if anything happens to you, he's got me to answer to."

"Yeah, so not gonna happen."

"Ok. Well at least that explains why you're not here to pick me up."

"Huh?"

"It's Friday." Castle said as if that explained everything.

"So?"

"So, I was hoping for a nice little welcome when I got off the plane but since you're apparently at a stake out, I guess I'll just catch a cab to the hotel. I texted you the flight details this morning, I shouldn't be surprised though, seeing as you didn't respond to any of my texts, calls or e-mails this week."

"Oh no! Rick, I'm so sorry. I completely forgot about that!"

"So I noticed."

"I'm so sorry, I should have called to let you know I can't do this weekend. We caught this really high profile case and it's all hands on deck until we catch the guy."

Castled sighed heavily into his phone, "Will I at least see you this weekend?"

"I don't know," Kate sighed, too. "Things have been just crazy this week. Ever since the news leak, we've been working around the clock to find out whoever is behind the NSA security breach."

"You're kidding, you're working on that case?" Castle's voice filled with excitement. "Seriously?"

"Seriously. But you know I can't talk about cases with you anymore."

"I know but this is so cool. My fiancé is hunting the traitor-turned-folk-hero everyone is talking about."

Kate rolled her eyes. "I'm glad you take the news that we can't spend the weekend together so well."

"Yes, no, wait. It's not like that. Of course, I'm upset I won't get to see you. Do you want me to fly back to New York?"

Kate pondered her decision for a minute. It wasn't really fair to have him cooped up in the hotel suite waiting to see her for the fifteen minutes it would take her to shower and change clothes.

"I don't know. When do you have to be back?"

"Actually, I don't have to be back until Thursday. I thought maybe you could take next Friday off and fly back with me, attend the party on Saturday and then come back Sunday night. But if you have to work because of this security leak, I'd understand."

"We'll see. I really do hope we catch the guy before next Saturday or we might all be out of a job due to incompetence." That reminded Kate that with all the chaos this week, she hadn't even gotten a chance to talk to Rachel about next Saturday.

"Hey, if anyone can sniff out that guy's whereabouts it's you."

"Thank you for your vote of confidence but we've been doing background checks on all former employees who might hold a grudge and it's one dead end after another."

"What makes you think it's a former employee? That's so cliché. If I wrote the story, I'd create a modern day anti-hero. Small guy, caught in the big wheels of government, discovers how the government he's sworn to protect spies on its own citizens on a grand scale, violating people's privacy 'for their own good'."

Kate continued, "He keeps silent as long as he can but eventually his conscience wins out and he goes public with what he knows. But that's insane, he must know that they'll come after him and prosecute him to the full extent of the law."

"Right, so he plans every little detail long in advance. He gathers as much evidence as he can, then quietly leaves with nobody none the wiser. Goes on vacation or quits his job amicably. Waits a few days to make sure the coast is clear. The point is the less attention he draws to himself the better."

"Right because he wants out of the country. Preferably somewhere with no extradition treaty to the US where he might be court martialed and the death penalty is looming over his head. He may very well be a former employee but he'd have left on his own terms, we're looking in the wrong direction."

Kate glanced at Hendricks to check if he'd been listening in on her conversation. Matt winced apologetically at her and nodded, already reaching for his phone to call Rachel. Their investigation may have just finally gotten on track.

"Run down the last known travel itineraries of the journalists from The Guardian who broke the story. I remember their background check showed recent overseas travel. I bet they met with the traitor in person. Doing it over Skype or even an encrypted line would have been too high a risk."

Matt nodded, "Already on it. Rachel already has Richmond cross-referencing employee records with flight manifests to see if any names pop for recent overseas travel in the last few weeks."

"You have to go." Castle sighed as the same time as Kate said, "Gotta go."

"Be safe, Kate. I love you." Castle crooned into the speaker and made Kate smile.

She lowered her head and spoke quietly into the phone, "Always."


	7. Chapter 7

"How come Hollister's team gets to go to Hawaii and we have to interview junkie roommates?" Hendricks complained as he and Beckett secured the hallway of the tenth floor of an apartment complex in the Dupont Circle neighborhood.

"Seniority?" Kate guessed and shrugged her shoulders.

"It's a  _new_  task force, Heat. We've got no seniority, period."

"Look at the bright side. No jet lag and you can't whine about seeing the beautiful beaches without actually enjoying them."

"Oh great, you're one of those glass always half-full people, aren't you?"

"Not really. I bet it's insanely hot in Hawaii right now anyway."

"Oh you mean unlike this city?" Hendricks swept his hand around him. Suddenly he came to a stop and nodded. 10D. They'd reached the right door. He knocked three times and announced their presence to Christopher Fields, roommate of Steven McEntire. The latter was one of five names Rookie's magical algorithms spit out on a list of most likely suspects with recent international travel. Steven McEntire, who was officially on vacation in Venezuela, was also a mid-level data analyst at Booz Allen Hamilton. They had already contacted local law enforcement to apprehend McEntire, but in the meantime they were going to question McEntire's friends and especially his roommate about his recent activities and whereabouts.

A quick background check of Christopher Fields, the roommate, revealed two prior convictions for drug trafficking – interesting living arrangements for a government spy to say the least. Castle would have already started spinning theories about Colombian drug syndicates with Steven McEntire as the mule by now. She kind of missed that, even though she used to complain about it all the time. And like any good junkie who was about to questioned by the feds, Christopher Fields did what came natural to all criminal lowlife. He tried to make a run for it.

The noisy rumble inside tipped off the two feds still waiting outside the door. Matt held up three fingers and motioned for Kate to take up her position on the other side. After a quick nod, he counted down silently, before he kicked down the door.

"NYPD, don't move!" Kate yelled as she spotted someone making a move to the window. Fields stopped dead in his tracks, arms held up disarmingly, right in front of the window. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion, as he glanced between Kate Beckett and Matt Hendricks in his doorway and the 200 grams of coke on his coffee table.

Hendricks frowned next to Beckett and lowered his gun for a split second, "Wh…"

"Shut up!" Kate hissed and glanced at her new partner. Matt chuckled. Their suspect took advantage of their break in concentration and ducked out the window.

"Fuck!" Matt let out an expletive and already turned around, while Kate holstered her weapon and followed their perp out the window. "He's making a run for the fire escape. I'll cut him off at the other end."

"Wait!" Kate yelled and stuck her head back inside through the window, "He's heading to the roof, better get to the top."

Hendricks nodded and dashed out of the apartment, while Beckett climbed up the fire escape. When she reached the end, she took a deep breath and told herself she could do this. This was just your average junkie roommate who got spooked when they canvassed the neighborhood. He was  _not_  Maddox; he wasn't even armed. Still Kate peered carefully over the edge, and only after she made sure the air was clear, she pulled herself on top of the building. She spun around, quickly assessing the situation. The rooftop was empty, neither Matt nor their suspect was in sight. Instinctually Beckett crouched behind a chimney and pulled out her gun. Peering around the corner to ensure safe passage, she quickly crossed the roof to hide behind another concrete column.

Where the hell was Hendricks? Ryan and Esposito would have long caught up with her, not to mention Castle who would have leaped out of the window hot on her heels, no matter how many times she would have yelled at him to wait inside. Kate reached for her walkie-talkie and relayed her position and a rough description of their suspect.

The device crackled a few seconds before Rachel's voice ordered her to wait for back up. What back up, Kate thought. As if she'd read her mind, McCord told her they'd taken up position in the alley on the east side of the building. When Beckett looked up to the sun to orientate herself, a sliver of movement on the north side of the roof caught her eye. Gotcha! She grinned and trained her weapon on the man in the green sweater. Lifting her radio again, she informed that she had her eyes on the suspect now and was in pursuit.

The radio crackled and Rachel ordered Kate to hold her position until Matt joined her. Hendricks, what the fuck is taking you so long? Wanting to have a better visual of their perp, Kate crawled behind a few pipes to close the distance between them.

"Hendricks, where the hell are you?" Kate spoke into her radio but got no response. The man in the green sweater was now ducking behind another set of pipes, making his way to the edge of the rooftop.

"Suspect on the move. I repeat, suspect's on the move."

"Hold your position and wait for back up, Beckett. I'm on my way."

"Negative." Kate replied, as realization dawned on her, "He's going to jump across the alley to the other building. We're losing him."

Beckett rose and turned once around her own axis to assure herself that Hendricks was still nowhere in sight. If she didn't take up pursuit of the suspect, they'd lose the only good lead they had on Steven McEntire. She  _had_  to take in his roommate who could provide them with important information about McEntire's whereabouts. How would that reflect on her if she'd let a suspect, well, viable witness, escape on her first week on the job. They'd never let her hear the end of it and the teasing would only increase. No thank you very much, the Nikki Heat hazing was enough, she wouldn't give them more ammunition by letting their suspect flee.

Holstering her radio and turning it off to avoid making her presence known, Beckett trained her weapon on the suspect who had his back on her now, as he was contemplating the jump across the alley. A rattling noise drew their attention to where they'd come up the fire escape. McCord must be climbing the steps as fast as she could but it was too late. She'd already spooked their perp, who now noticed Beckett approaching him.

"Give up, Christopher. It's over." Beckett pleaded with the suspect. "We just want to talk to you."

"It's a trick, I know how you work. You're just going to twist my words in my mouth."

"I don't care about your substance abuse, I just want to talk about your roommate Steven." Kate kept her weapon trained on him, while she strode along the edge of the rooftop, cutting off his escape route. Not that he was likely to jump without at least a little running start, and even that was still mostly a suicide mission.

"Stop!" Fields warned Kate and took a few steps backwards.

"I just want to talk, Christopher. I'm going to lower my weapon ok?"

Fields took another couple of steps backwards, when another voice carried across the rooftop.

"Freeze!" It was McCord who pointed her gun at Fields from where she peered over the edge of the rooftop.

Panicking, Fields' eyes darted between the two women before he took a deep breath and took a running jump off the building. Kate gasped and leaned over the edge, watching Christopher Fields land with a squat on the next roof. Without missing a beat, Kate holstered her weapon and took a running start.

"Beckett!" she heard McCord call out behind her but Kate was already in the air.

Her eyes widened in horror, when she realized that Field was now standing on the other rooftop, holding a gun. Shit, shit, shit. Where the hell had that come from? There was nothing she could do but hope that he had bad aim. When the first shot fired, Beckett was in mid-jump across the narrow alley between the buildings. Thank god for narrow alleys. Not risking a second shot, Kate pulled her own gun and fired it. Once. Twice. The third bullet finally made impact with Fields' shoulder, causing him to lose his balance and his hold on the weapon. It clattered to the floor at the same moment Kate's feet touched ground. To soften the impact, Beckett rolled over and took up position to fire in a crouch. However, Fields was still down for the count. Moaning and whimpering he held his shoulder, where Beckett's bullet had grazed him.

"Christopher Fields," Kate spoke as she rose and leaned over he suspect. Holding her gun to his temple, she continued, "You're under arrest for discharging a firearm, obstruction of justice and resisting a law enforcement officer and what I'm sure are half a dozen or so substance abuse violations." Beckett panted. Fields wriggled around, trying to escape her grip of him, as best as he could despite his wounded shoulder.

"What? But you said you weren't interested in the drugs!" Fields protested.

"That was before you took a pot shot at me, jackass!"

"Beckett, you ok?" She heard a male voice behind her.

"Richmond?" Kate replied astonished never taking her eyes off Fields. "What are you doing here?"

"Yep, here." Rookie's face appeared on the edge of her vision holding out his handcuffs. "I'm your back up!" He beamed, "That was  _amazing_! The way you jumped and… he shot… and then you fired… and then you landed and and and…"

Never one to know when to give up, Fields tried once more to release Kate's grasp on him, and wriggled his good arm free to reach for the gun he'd dropped, before Richmond would be able to put the cuffs on him.

"Go ahead and resist, I need the practice." A very pissed off Kate Beckett hissed and pressed the gun firmer against his temple, leaving a mark.

Rookie gaped at Kate, before he snapped out of his reverie and handcuffed their suspect. "Christopher Fields, you have the right to remain silent. You also have the right to an attorney, should you find yourself unable to afford one, we'll provide one for you. Now get up, before I ruin my new suit." Richmond jerked Fields off the ground, who groaned at the manhandling of his injured shoulder.

"Hey!" A breathless Hendricks joined them. "You started the party without me!"

"Matthew! Where the  _fuck_  have you been?" Kate let go of Fields, trusting Rookie to take care of him, and charged into Hendricks.

"Whoa, easy there, Nikki. I came as fast as I could. The door to the rooftop was locked and made of iron, so I head to run all the way down. Outside, I caught Rachel just as she was getting on the fire escape, so I took Rookie here to secure this building, when I saw Fields jump. I took the staircase again, Rookie took the fire escape to make sure we cut off all escape routes." Hendricks explained, still panting.

"You should have seen her!" Richmond piped up, suspect in an iron hold, "She was incredible! She went after him without batting an eyelash. And then he fired at her and she took him right out. While she was still in the air! It was just like straight out of her novels!"

Kate rolled her eyes and blew a loose strand of hair out of her face. She watched as Hendricks took hold of Fields with a chuckle and started to march their suspect to the rooftop door together with Richmond, who kept on gushing about Kate's little stunt.

 

0~0~0~0~0

 

"If you think that was awesome, you should've seen her when she barged into the apartment after me, all badass Nikki Heat and then she yelled 'NYPD, don't move!' That was priceless." Hendricks laughed when they crowded into the small elevator to go down.

"You didn't?!" Rookie grinned at Kate.

"Sure did, it was hilarious!" Hendricks insisted. "Our little escape artist here looked at her like she'd grown a second head."

"NYPD's got no jurisdiction here, so what's she doing here?" Fields piped up, as the elevator indicated they'd reached the first floor with a ping.

"Just your lucky day, Fields, that the extraordinary Detective Beckett ditched the NYPD to join the feds this week." Hendricks laughed and pushed their suspect through the open elevator doors roughly.

"Hey, I just realized this is your first arrest as an agent. We should take a picture or something," Rookie chuckled.

"Thanks, but no thanks." Kate rolled her eyes.

"And what an arrest! Seriously, Matt, you should have seen her! I was still on the fire escape, when suddenly bullets start flying above my head. I look up and there she is, mid-jump aiming at him." Rookie gave Fields a shove forwards as they exited the building still laughing.

"And then, when she had him already apprehended, he tried to make another move for his gun, so she said, 'Go ahead, I need the practice.' Just like Jameson Rook in the novel! I'm telling ya, it was awesome! That was so cool the way you imitated Rook in  _Heat Wave_."

Kate grinned and protested, "Hey! Where do you think Castle go that line in the first place?"

"No way, he stole that from you?"

"Sure did!"

Their laughter died on their lips when they saw McCords stern gaze welcoming them on the sidewalk. She raised her eyebrows at the trio, then nodded for Rookie to take their suspect across the street where the paramedics were already waiting with an ambulance.

"What the fuck was that?" McCord stalked across the sidewalk, closing the distance between them.

"Fields was about to bolt, so I made a judgment call." Kate explained, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Chasing their suspect across rooftops and fire escapes had left her a tad little out of breath and her hair in a messy ponytail.

"Without proper back up?" McCord glared at Kate, "That was stupid, Beckett!"

"But I had Hendricks with me. I followed the suspect up the fire escape, since Matt was heading up the stairs to the rooftop to cut off his other exit." Kate defended herself.

"I thought I made myself clear the other day, Beckett? No going rogue!" McCord charged into Kate. "What the hell were you thinking jumping after an armed suspect like that? You're lucky you're still alive."

"I didn't know he was packing heat," Beckett explained. "And what was I supposed to do? Let him escape? He's our only strong connection to McEntire."

"What are you trying to prove, going after a suspect like that?" Rachel was not in the least mollified by her explanation.

Matt shook his head, "It's okay, Rach. She couldn't have known. I hadn't seen the gun on him, either." Of all people, Kate expected Hendricks to stick up for her last. "It was a judgment call."

"A really poor one at that. What the hell happened in there? How could you let Fields escape through the window in the first place?" She trained her anger now on Matt.

"How about we all calm down, before Rookie signs us up for family therapy with the department shrink." Hendricks tried to diffuse the situation by lightening up the mood. "He's getting real antsy."

Kate and Rachel glanced toward the young man, fidgeting behind the yellow tape.

"It was a clean shot," Rookie shouted, when he noticed three pairs of eyes watching him curiously. "I saw it all with my own eyes. Fields opened fire first, Kate was only defending her life."

McCord closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Alright, you know the drill." She held out her hand and Kate reluctantly put her weapon into it.

"Until you're cleared for the shooting, I don't want to see your face. They'll probably set up an interview sometime tomorrow, Monday morning at the latest. Take the rest of the weekend off." McCord shook her head. "That's gotta be a new record. Not even a whole week on the job and already fired her gun."

"Actually," Richmond piped up from behind the police tape, "Agent Brink's holding that record. He fired his sidearm only three hours into his… you don't really want to know that." He trailed off when he saw Hendricks and Beckett shaking their heads slowly. Right now he reminded Kate so much of Castle, when he spouted his useless little trivia tidbits at crime scenes.

"Not really," Rachel confirmed and then looked at Hendricks, "I'll take Rookie, you drop her off. Let's meet at the hospital in an hour to see if we can question Fields." With that McCord turned on her heels and joined Richmond.

"She's just pissed because of the paperwork she has to do now because of the shooting." Matt looked at Kate with a timid smile.

"Thanks for sticking up for me. Why didn't you tell her?"

Hendricks put his arm around Beckett's shoulder, drawing her a bit closer. "You think you're to blame for Fields' escape? He wanted to run, he was going to run. He would've found any number of ways and reasons to bolt, even if you hadn't slipped up."

Kate glanced at Matt's arm around her shoulders. It was a friendly gesture and yet it felt wrong. He was just trying to comfort her but she was mad at herself for giving Fields an opportunity to run.

"Don't be so hard on yourself, Nikki Heat." Hendricks gave her a squeeze before he pulled his arm back. "Come on, I'll drop you off at your place, before Rachel makes me fill out all the paperwork as punishment."

Beckett looked at Hendricks, a small smile hushing over her face. Maybe Matt Hendricks wasn't such a jackass after all. And really, she was starting to get used to her new nickname. There were worse things in the world. Like letting a suspect escape.


	8. Chapter 8

Richard Castle stood in front of the tall brick building, gazing at the windows of the upper stories.

"Mr. Castle?" A young man in his early thirties, wearing a Miami-Vice-style suit, approached him.

"Yes, but call me Rick," Castle reached out to shake hands with the realtor.

"I'm Skip Gibbons, we spoke on the phone earlier."

"Nice to meet you." Rick nodded.

"Shall we head inside?" Skip suggested with a nod and Castle quickly agreed. Anything, really, to get him off the hot and humid streets of the nation's capital.

"Based on what you told me in your e-mails and on the phone I picked out two condos for you to look at this morning. The first one has two bedrooms and two full bathrooms on the second floor. On the first floor we have the living area with a partial bath." Skip explained and Castle followed him inside to the elevator.

"It's a newer building from 2002, so it comes with all the amenities of modern living. The kitchen has even been remodeled in 2010 and contains state-of the-art equipment for the amateur gourmet chef: industrial fridge and island hood, Viking appliances, full range with oven and induction cook-top, dishwasher, microwave, …"

Rick had already begun to tune out the chipper voice of Skip, as images of him and Kate cooking in their kitchen on her days off flooded his mind. Since he couldn't shadow her anymore, he could prepare dinner every evening in time for her to come home. If she called to let him know she had to work late, he'd simply wrap it up in tinfoil and drop it off at her office. Or he'd convince her to drop by at home to eat quickly and then go back to work. Yeah, that last one was a bit unrealistic, dinner in the break room at her new office it was. They hadn't really talked about her new work hours, but judging from this week, they seemed to be just as erratic as in New York. But that was okay. He'd known that when he met her. Granted back then, he was part of the crazy hours she sometimes kept, but yeah… they'd find a way to deal with it. Lots of snuggling would probably help.

"The whole condo is a little under 1500 square feet and like I said the architecture is very modern." He tuned back into what the realtor was saying. The elevator doors opened and Skip let Castle exit first. "As you can see, there are three apartments on this floor, both neighbors are quiet residents. You said your girlfriend is a cop?"

"Fiancée, actually," Castle corrected the younger man, "and she's a federal agent."

"Oh, well congratulations. In any case, I'm sure she'll appreciate the quiet neighborhood. Each unit features excellent insulation. The condo is two stories," Skip grinned at Rick, before he unlocked the door, "and as you can see the living area is on the first floor."

Skip finally shut up and let Rick look around in silence. Like most modern apartments it featured lots of open space. The condo was not quite as spacious as Rick's loft in New York, but what won him immediately over were the bright open windows.

Noticing Castle's focus on the windows, Skip readily jumped back in, "The 10 feet windows bathe the room in generous light, don't they?"

Rick nodded and turned once around his own axis. The room was very…red. While he liked the red accents in his own loft, he knew Kate would balk at the brightly colored walls. That in itself would not pose a problem, they could simply repaint them with a less obnoxious color. He looked down at the hardwood floor, which was non-negotiable, and it looked to be in good condition. It was dark and rich wood, just the way Kate would pick it out.

The living area was one big room with a pretty straightforward layout. He missed the nooks and niches that his old loft offered and there was definitely not enough space to carve out a working area for him in the corner.

"Is this the only room on this floor?"

"Yes, with the exception of the kitchen, but as you can see it is a generous size. The previous owners blocked off some office space with open shelves and book cases."

Rick nodded. While he'd chosen the same trick for his loft in New York, he couldn't really see how they could make it work in this room. First of all the room was not really  _that_  big, second the red walls shrunk the perceived size considerably – if he put in an office corner he wouldn't be able to shake the feeling that the walls were moving in on him while he'd write.

"I like the set up with the kitchen," Skip redirected Castle's attention to the kitchen which could be seen through the big window in the wall. "It's a separate room thanks to the wall, and yet the window allows to pass through food. And there's enough space in the big living room to cordon off a dining area. Very convenient for entertaining people, saves a lot of mileage. This fits easily a nice oak wood table that seats eight people. Perfect for dinner parties." Skip grinned. Castle frowned. From what he could see from the living area the kitchen was small. And they'd never fit a dining area AND an office corner into the room without completely ruining the layout.

Skip led Rick into the gourmet-kitchen, his words, not Rick's, "Do you like to cook, Mr Castle? You'll find no better appliances. And like I said before, they're really only three years old and in excellent condition."

Once he actually got a peek at the kitchen, Castle took back everything he'd thought before. It wasn't small, it was tiny. With his six feet he felt like Gulliver in Lilliput and he and Kate could forget cooking together the way they enjoyed it in New York. And worst of all more red. And in combination with the dark wood and steel appliances, the dark color shrank the tiny room an additional three sizes. Richard Castle was definitely not a fan of this particular condo.

Sensing Rick's increasing disquiet, Skip quickly suggested they had upstairs to the sleeping quarters. "Very conveniently the staircase is built in a way that allows some additional storage room and, best of all, a partial bathroom." He opened both doors for Castle to catch a look, before they ascended to the upper level.

The master bedroom was a vision in beige. The walls were painted in a rich creamy color with earthy shades that he just  _knew_  Kate would love. The same 10 feet windows, that bathed the living area downstairs, flooded the smaller bedroom with direct sunlight. Knowing it was about 10 o'clock in the morning, it also meant that the sun would move in time before it reached its zenith and would be at the strongest. That would save them a nice little sum on electrical bills for air conditioning during the summer. And Kate loved light, so this would be a huge plus. The walk in closet was of reasonable space, it could easily fit his suits and Kate's dresses and work wardrobe. The rest could go into drawers; there was enough space to put up Kate's cupboard and antique chest.

 

0~0~0~0~0

 

They were lying in his bed, basking in their post-coital glow, talking about their future and the logistics of consolidating two households while moving to another city.

"I've been thinking," Kate started and traced lazy patterns across his chest with her fingers. Rick hummed content with his eyes closed. "What if we move of all of my stuff from my apartment to D.C?"

"Why? I thought we'd agreed we'd mix your stuff into mine here at the loft and buy new stuff for our first apartment together."

"Yeah, but…"

"What?" He cracked his eyes open and blinked at her.

"I don't know. My taste doesn't really go with your style at the loft." She shrugged her shoulders.

"I thought the whole point was to merge our lives together, how can we do that if we keep our stuff separate?"

"Seriously, Rick. I like the loft just the way it is. It's perfect, it's you." She pressed a quick kiss on his chest.

"You're wrong, it's no longer me, it's  _us_  now. If we furnish our new apartment in D.C. with your old stuff, then New York will feel like my place and D.C. like yours. That's not what I want, is that what  _you_  want?" Was she suddenly looking for an out again? He thought they were past this. He'd proposed and she'd accepted. They were going to spend the rest of their lives together.

"Can you honestly see my grungy couch in your two million designer living room?" Kate challenged him.

"Well, no, but we don't have to keep your couch."

"What about my bed, my dressers, my cupboards, my bookcases, my shelves… it's all mix and match and your loft is so carefully planned out, all my stuff will stick out like a sore thumb."

"We can hire a designer to find a common voice for both of us. They'll know what to keep and where to put it. We don't have to keep all of my stuff. I'd gladly chuck out some of mine to make space for yours if you want to avoid clutter."

"I don't know. Wouldn't it make more sense to just move all my stuff to D.C. instead of throwing it away or donating it? We start to furnish our new place with my stuff and then go shopping for everything else we need  _together_."

"I get to pick?" He gave her a lop-sided grin.

"I have veto powers!" Beckett added quickly.

"Alright, then." Castle closed his eyes and snuggled deeper into his pillow. "We definitely have to bring your dresser with  _my_  drawer." He teased her. He'd long claimed a lot more space in her bedroom and bathroom and even her den to accommodate some of his stuff since Valentine's Day.

"I think we can find you your own dresser." Kate smirked and kissed his chest.

"I don't know. I really like that chest. It has magical drawers." He smiled content, as he ran his fingers through her hair.

"Okay, I promise we'll definitely keep the dresser and my bed."

"Your bed? Beckett, you've only got a queen! Let's buy a nice California king for our crib in D.C. like we have here at the loft so that we can christen it together." He whined and then muttered under his breath, "One you didn't share with other men."

Kate raised her eyebrows at him, "Well, if you put it like that, Castle, we're getting rid of this bed first thing tomorrow. I'm sure your  _California king_  has seen more action and women than mine."

Castle looked at her goofily and slightly aroused, "You had other women in your bed?"

"What? No!" She frowned at him and then realized her slip-up in the analogy, "I meant  _men_  in my bed."

"Yes, but your bed is newer, it's only natural that it has seen less nocturnal activities in its very short life."

"Oh, I don't know. Considering everything we've done in there, I think it's gotten more use than my old one."

Rick looked at her seriously for a moment, "Do you want me to get rid of my bed? We can get a new one if it bothers you that I've slept in here with other women."

"No, it's okay. We both know we have a past, but that's just it. The past is past. And we're making new memories instead."

"The  _best_  memories," Castle stressed, "all of my favorite memories in this room are with  _you_."

"Look at you, going all corny romance novelist on me." Beckett teased him.

"It's true," Castle simply shrugged.

"Do you know what  _my_  favorite memory about  _my_  bed is?" Kate lifted the sheets and moved on top of Rick, straddling his lap.

"No, but please do tell, detective."

"You handcuffed to the head board, all tied up and lying spread-eagle on my mattress, while I have my wicked ways with you. It's just the right size for you." She leaned down and kissed him passionately. Rick's reaction was immediate. She could feel him harden and nudging her entrance.

"You're right. We  _absolutely_  have to pack your bed and bring it to D.C. It's now non-negotiable."

"I thought so," Kate smiled and kissed him again, longer and harder. "You know what else is non-negotiable right now?"

"What?" He asked her breathless. If he were a puppy, he'd be wagging his tail.

"This!" She breathed against his lips, as she reached down to grab his cock and slowly slid onto him.

"You drive a very hard bargain, detective."

"Shut up and fuck me already, writer boy."

 

0~0~0~0~0

 

"As you can see, this condo features a unique layout on the second floor that allows for separate space, down here in the master bedroom." Skip's voice startled Castle out of his reverie and he followed the realtor as he walked down the few steps from the master bedroom to what appeared to be a long corridor that led to a small balcony through a set of French doors. Rick could see that the previous owners had decided to line the wall with floor to ceiling bookcases that left some scratch marks the new paint job could not successfully hide completely.

"Even though this is a long and narrow shaped room, it has enough space for you to put in a desk and turn it into a small study. The previous owners used it as a library and reading room." Skip offered yet another idea for Castle's office.

Castle nodded slowly and looked around the narrow space, wondering if he was experiencing early onset signs of claustrophobia. Skip led him through the French doors outside to the balcony, which was simply adorable. A small green oasis, it was really more than just a balcony, it was more of a terrace. Plants and shrubbery were strategically placed to shield the balcony from the neighbors and two lounge chairs and a small table with iron feet and marble top completed the view. He kind of regretted now that he'd already made a decision not to buy the condo, because he'd love to take Kate on this balcony under the starry night sky. Maybe Skip would let him borrow the keys and Castle could take Kate for a little private viewing later in the week.

"And if that long corridor space was not to your liking, you can always turn this second bedroom into an office." Skip pointed towards another set of French doors a little further down the wall. Castle followed the realtor back inside, down the corridor to the master bedroom and from the back into the hallway. Rick noticed they'd conveniently skipped the bathroom, which didn't bode well.

When Skip opened the door to the second bedroom, it only confirmed Castle's previous decision. It was way too small. It barely fit a queen-sized bed and was really more the size appropriate for a small child's twin-bed. This was undoubtedly a children's bedroom. It was probably not even half the size of Alexis' current bedroom at the loft.

"Actually, we'll need that second bedroom," Rick explained to Skip, "since my daughter will live with us occasionally. When I said two to five bedrooms, two was really the bare minimum. I was hoping you'd have some condos that have additional dens that we could turn into an office, so we wouldn't have to sacrifice that second bedroom. So the more I think about it, ideally we'd get something along the lines of three to four bedrooms."

Skip nodded slowly. "In that case, I think the second property I picked for this morning will be much more to your liking. Would you like to take a look at the bathrooms on this floor, or shall we call it a day here?"

"Out of curiosity, what's the asking price?"

"A little over $1 million, which is a real steal for this location and the excellent condition of the apartment."

"It's a bit on the small side though." Castle replied.

"Yes, well, I think it's ideal for a young professional couple."

"That it is indeed, but I'm afraid it's not really what my wife and I are looking for."

"Very well, then let me lock up this place and I'll meet you at the other property. You have the address?"

"Yes," Castle nodded.


	9. Chapter 9

"What are you doing?" Kate sat down on the couch next to him, lifting his arm and putting it around her shoulder, so she could rest her head against his chest. Castle had his feet propped up on the coffee table and balanced his laptop carefully on his thighs.

"There's this website with property listings in D.C. that I've been checking out all afternoon." Rick looked up from the screen and smiled at his fiancée. "How was your day?"

"Too much paperwork. Gates won't let me take lead on any new cases anymore, in case we can't close them before I leave."

"And the boys?"

"Still giving me the cold shoulder." Kate sighed.

"They'll come around, you'll see. Ryan will be a blubbering baby on your last day, clinging to your legs and begging you to stay."

"Ryan's not the problem. Espo is. I swear he's plotting how to kill me in my sleep for betraying him like that. And you know he'd get away with it thanks to his sniper training." Kate shuddered.

Castle laughed out loud. "Come here," he pulled her tighter into his one-armed hug and kissed her head through her hair. "How about a little distraction? I've flagged a few listings I thought you might like."

"Okay," Kate smiled and leaned in to get a better view at the screen.

"We haven't really talked about what kind of place we want, so I've flagged both condos and townhouses with three to four bedrooms that are for sale. Have you at all thought about preferences regarding neighborhoods?"

"I was thinking Georgetown might be nice, if we can afford it."

"You're marrying a best-selling mystery writer, Kate, trust me we can afford it."

"You mean  _you_  can afford it." She corrected him.

"Are we really going to have this argument again? Kate, we're getting married. What's mine is yours, so yes,  _we_  can afford it."

"I don't want you to pay for everything, Castle." She insisted, "I don't want to feel like a kept woman."

"What do you want me to do, Kate? Not use my money at all?"

"Don't be ridiculous, of course not!"

"Then what do you want, Beckett, tell me. Cause this," he waved around the loft, "is leading us nowhere!" Rick shouted exasperated.

She stared at him in silence and Rick sighed.

"My money's not going anywhere, Kate, so the sooner you get used to your new wealth, the better it will be for all of us. Can you please try?" He tried again more calm and quiet this time.

"I don't want to lose my independence," she finally confessed quietly.

"What?! Why would…?" He looked at her astonished. "How's buying a townhouse in Georgetown equal to you becoming dependent on me?"

"I know you, Castle. It starts with the house and the vacations, then you buy me a car and new dresses to accompany you to public appearances and before I know it everything I own in my life actually belongs to you!"

"So, really, you don't want to share what's yours with me?" He gave her a lop-sided grin.

"Argh!" Kate grunted and stood up.

"Beckett, what is this really about? I don't get what the big deal is."

"It shouldn't be this hard." Kate began, pacing the floor.

"What shouldn't be so hard?" He couldn't follow her.

"This! Life… love… us…. Everything."

"I don't understand," Castle's voice cracked, "what are you trying to say?"

"We're so different, Rick. What if I stick out in your life like a sore thumb just like my stuff among yours does? What if we're still only kidding ourselves? Where does that leave me, if I let you pay for everything in my life? I'd be nothing but a gold digger, living in  _your_  apartment, driving  _your_  cars, wearing  _your_  clothes."

"Oh my god!" He exclaimed appalled, "You don't believe in us! You don't think we're going to make it!" He accused her.

"What?!" She frowned aghast. "No!"

He looked at her heartbroken. "I don't understand, Kate. I…" He trailed off, fighting back the tears welling up in his eyes, "I thought we were happy. Finally on track…" He swallowed the thick lump that had formed in his throat.

"Are we, Rick?" She stared at him upset.

"Obviously not if you have to ask!" He shook his head with disappointment.

"You were so serious, Rick," she tried to explain, "on that swing set. I thought for sure you were going to break up with me."

"What?!" He straightened up, "Kate that's the  _last_  thing I want."

"Then why does everything feel so rushed and forced between us lately?" She looked at him so helpless, it tugged at his heartstrings.

"What do you mean?" He put the laptop on the coffee table and rose from the couch.

"I feel like I'm losing control over my life. I was so certain you were going to end things and then you sprang that surprise on me. In the fraction of a second, you turned my whole life upside down and now I'm suddenly engaged and starting a new job and moving to another city…"

He didn't let her finish, rushed over and silenced her with a kiss. "Relax, Kate." He palmed her cheeks and gazed into her eyes. "It's okay to be a little scared right now. There have been a lot of changes in your life recently. But there's no need to freak out. Whatever happens, I'm  _not_  going anywhere. I'm in this for the long haul. I want you. I want  _this_  with you." He reached for her hand to hold up her engagement ring. "I want forever with you."

"Are you sure? What if I forced you into something you weren't ready for because of my stupid behavior? I don't want to trap you like Meredith did."

"First of all, you're  _nothing_  like her. Second, Meredith didn't trap me. Believe me, she felt more trapped by her pregnancy than I have raising Alexis by myself for the past nineteen years. Besides, I knew what kind of persons she was and I married her anyway. So that one is really all on me. No one forced me back then, it was my decision."

"Would you have married Meredith if you hadn't knocked her up?" She raised her eyebrows at him, demanding an honest answer.

"No, probably not." He admitted.

She gave him a look that clearly said, 'I told you so.' "Then you caved to societal pressure and expectations, which might as well have forced your hand. What guarantee do I have that you're not making the same mistake twice? What if you're going to resent me, too. I don't want to become your  _third_  ex-wife."

"Then why did you even accept my proposal?" He snarled angrily.

"Because I love you, dammit, and I don't want to lose you!" She yelled. Kate knew that if she had told him no that day at the swing set, their relationship would have never recovered.

They stared at each other shocked and in silence for a few minutes. How had they ended up fighting like this? Half an hour ago they'd been cuddling on the couch.

"Do you…" Castle licked his lips and cleared his throat, "do you think we're making a mistake?"

"I don't know." Kate sighed and sat back down. She rubbed her palms over her face and then propped her elbows on her knees, hiding her face in her hands.

He walked over and fell onto the couch next to her with a big huff. His voice broke, "Do you want to call the wedding off?"

Kate stared at the floor and shook her head. Castle breathed a sigh of relief.

"Then what do you want us to do? What do you want, Beckett?" Rick asked, feeling a strange sense of déjà vu. The last time he'd asked her that question, she'd launched herself into his arms, clinging to him like a shipwrecked to a life buoy.

"A time machine." She lifted her head from her hands and glanced at him with a weak smile. "So we can go back before this mess."

They sat in silence staring straight ahead for while, when Kate broke the silence.

"I love you, Rick, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you, but I'll never know whether you just proposed to me only because you were afraid I'd chose D.C over you."

"I guess my word doesn't count?" He glanced at her sideways. So that's what it was. She was upset over the way he proposed. "That's really sad, Beckett, because it means you can't trust me."

"I trust you, it's just…" She started crying again. "This is what I meant. It's all so complicated, I've made such a mess of things. You should've been beaming all over your face, when you reached for your ring, bubbling over with excitement. Instead you wore that serious look. It made me feel like I was pointing a gun to your head, when you asked."

"That's because I was really scared you'd say no." He confessed. "And I was trying really hard to show you that I can be more than an overgrown man-child. I can act like an adult from time to time, I can be the man you deserve, Beckett… a good husband, someone you can always rely on. I know I don't have the best track record with Gina and Meredith, but I don't take marriage easily. It may have been all fun and games with Gina and Meredith, Meredith especially, but with you... I want to work on our relationship, I really want to make our marriage to work. I want you to be the last person I pledge my life to. I  _want_  to be your one an done."

She felt tears prick at her eyes through the smile she gave. "You are, Rick. You've always been and you'll always be." Kate swallowed hard and blinked back the tears that were threatening to spill over.  _How could he even doubt that?_  " _I'm_  the one who doesn't deserve  _you_. I don't even know why you love me. I'm such a hot mess."

"You're beautiful and extraordinary and incredibly adorable when you're a mess." He gave her a boyish smile. "I love you because you're compassionate and strong, plus, you laugh at my jokes." He nudged her shoulder softly. "There are a  _million_  reasons why I love you but there's only  _one_  reason why I asked you to marry me, Kate."

He took her left hand and rubbed his thumb over her engagement ring. "I can't ever live another day without you in my life, not after this amazing year we've had together. I just can't let you go, Kate. And if you need to hear that from me every day until I die to believe how much I love you, then I'll tell you day after day after day."

"I can't live without you anymore, either." She whispered and gazed into his eyes. "I tried to picture myself in D.C. without you and I just couldn't see it. I was so afraid I'd have to choose one over the other, and now I'm so glad I can have both." She leaned in and brushed her lips softly over his. "I don't want to ever be without you again. I mean it, Rick, I don't know what I'd do without you in my life." There was an edge of desperation in her voice, he seldom heard.

"I love you, Kate." He breathed and kissed her hard.

"I love you so much." She mumbled against his lips.

"So where do we go from here?" Rick pulled back and looked at her with expectant eyes.

"I  _do_  want to marry you, I'm just scared we're both rushing into a marriage to distract us from our real problems."

"I'm not stupid, Kate. I didn't pop the question to you, thinking a proposal would be a miracle cure that fixed all our problems."

"We  _have_  to get better communicating with each other openly before we get married." Kate emphasized. "I love the silent conversations we can have by merely looking and touching each other, but if we're going to make this work, we both have to be more assertive regarding our needs and expectations."

"Fine, I'll start. I don't want to fight you every time I buy a gift for you, Beckett. What good is my money, if I can't spend it on the people I love?"

"Can we buy something together?" She countered. "We can look at smaller apartments and it doesn't have to be Georgetown. I'll pay part of the down payment and we'll get a mortgage  _together_. "

"Of course we can look. What did you have in mind in terms of size?" He asked her.

"Two bedrooms, so we have a place for Alexis when she comes to visit. A nice, spacious bat cave for you to write. Maybe an extra guestroom for when your mom or my dad stays over, or if one of the gang decides to come and visit us when I'm no longer persona non grata." Kate chuckled.

"That's not so much different from what I had in mind. I was thinking three bedrooms minimum, especially if you want Alexis to have her own room. But I'm leaning towards four bedrooms, so we can have a dedicated guest room and convert the other one into my office."

"I like modern appliances and amenities like in your loft, but I also love older, historic buildings – that's why I thought about the townhouses in Georgetown in the first place."

"Kate, I love you and I would really like to buy you your dream house where we can grow old together. Promise me you'll think about it ok? I already talked to my lawyers and they said I can easily afford a 5-6 mill purchase with my current portfolio. Even if I pay, we'll put both our names on the deed as owners. Legally, it will be ours." Rick tried again.

"Give me some time to think about it. Get used to the idea, ok?"

"Sure. We still have a few weeks left. You'll see in a few years we'll be too tired from chasing after our kids to care about who paid the utilities bill." He smiled.

The mood suddenly shifted and a pregnant silence hung in the air.

"That's another one of those things we should talk about before the wedding." Kate said.

"Probably." Rick nodded.

"But not tonight." Kate replied, unwilling to walk through that minefield after the fight they just had.

"What else should we talk about before the wedding?"

"Do you want a pre-nup?" Kate asked him all business like.

" _Definitely_  not talking about that tonight." Rick's eyes widened in horror and Kate chuckled.

"When do you want to get married?"

"Remember if it had been up to me we would've eloped right from the swing set."

Kate bit her lip nervously. "I think we should wait. I mean not like indefinitely, but maybe we should set a date for next summer or spring. That will give us more time to talk about the important things, fight and make up. Take little steps, you know?" She grinned at him.

Rick breathed a sigh of relief. She was teasing him already about their earlier blow up. "Why, detective, I think we just had our first fight as an engaged couple. Do you realize what this means?"

"Make up sex?" She smirked.

"Very hot and very wild make up sex." He nodded at her with a big grin.

 

0~0~0~0~0

 

Rick stared at the large glass front of the second complex he was going to view today, still lost in thought. It was a very modern building with an unusual design. It clearly lacked the historic charm Kate was so fond of.

"Quite impressive, huh?" Skip stepped up next to Castle and followed his gaze. "This complex was built in 2010 by an architect who puts an emphasis on eco-friendly urban living. The whole building is designed to take advantage of natural light and sustainable energy. The black panels you see at the corners are more than decorative accents, they're solar panels."

Rick nodded slowly. Now that again deserved some brownie points.

"Shall we take a look?" Skip turned to Rick who nodded.

While they rode up in the elevator, Skip gave Castle the run down on the condo. "This unit has five bedrooms, three bathrooms, a large kitchen/dining area, a living room, and an office. It comes fully furnished, if you want. Unlike the previous property, which encompassed two stories, this unit stretches out all across the top floor."

"Like a penthouse." Castle hummed.

"Kind of. It's very bright and has lots of light, which I can already tell from our previous viewing is very important to you and your fiancée."

"Yes, we both like dark and rustic furniture, so the more natural light the better." Rick explained.

"You'll probably want to chuck out most of the present furniture, it's all very white and sterile." Skip grinned. "Very modern, very minimalist."

"I'll be honest with you, Skip. Today is only for getting a feeling for what's out there."

"I know, Rick. At this price range, I rarely ever close a deal after the first showing. That's why I picked the two bedroom and the five bedroom units to show you both ends of the range you gave me. And those are only the condominiums. Did you get my e-mail with the open houses from our company in Georgetown tomorrow?"

Castle nodded, "Yes, thank you. Kate really fancies getting a quaint little townhouse there."

"Good." He pulled out his smart phone and pulled up his calendar. "I know you said your fiancée probably has to work and her schedule can be messy but I've got open slots at 10.45 am for the Olive Street property and then again at 5.15 in the afternoon, when I'm at the property on Prospect Street."

"It'll probably just be me again," Rick explained, "but I'll definitely come to the viewings."

"Excellent," Skip exclaimed and the elevator dinged. The doors opened and Skip exited, showing Rick the way. "Right, this way. Now it goes without saying that all our listings are in excellent and safe neighborhoods. I forgot to mention that the unit we viewed earlier came with two parking spots, this one unfortunately only comes with one, but there's a long term parking garage just around the corner."

Skip unlocked the door and pushed it wide open.

"Wow," Castle couldn't help but show his surprise. He almost whistled. This condo played in a completely different league than the previous one. "The entrance area and hallways are Italian marble. Very durable." Skip stomped his foot as if to prove it. "Down to your right is where the sleeping quarters are, the office is to your left. But let's just go straight ahead," Skip led them through a small archway and Castle had to watch his head, "into the living-slash-reception room."

They were greeted with a white leather furniture set that provided a stark contrast to the mahogany coffee table around which the couch, loveseat and armchair were arranged. Rick looked down at his feet and recognized an authentic Persian carpet.

Skip gave Castle a few moments to take it all in, before they ventured further into the room. Now it became obvious that this condo subscribed to an open layout as well. Separated by a pair of open shelves, one could still see into the actual living room.

A large home entertainment center set up with a projector, 64-inch plasma screen and Dolby surround system formed the centerpiece of the next section. A fluffy, white flokati rug provided a nice accent to the dark hardwood floor and black leather furniture, but seriously killed the bachelor-pad-vibe. It was all very sleek and modern. Castle wondered if the bright white reception area was the feminine counterpart to this man-cave. Feng-shui yin-yang? But where the hell did that ugly flokati thing come from? Rick wondered if that may have been the trade off for ESPN premium subscription with the girlfriend. He honestly thought the fashion police prohibited those ugly fluffy things as soon as the 70s ended.

As if he could read Rick's mind, Skip piped up, "How many Fraggles do you think had to die for this rug? I've always wondered ever since we listed the property a few months ago."

Rick guffawed and just like that the ice that had been slowly melting between the two men was broken. "I don't know but I can have my girlfriend send it to the FBI lab and find out."

"I don't know, do the feds have jurisdiction over Fraggle Rock?" Skip grinned.

"I bet the Doozers did it, they got tired of Fraggles eating the scaffolding they just put up." Rick volleyed back. Oh how he wished Kate were there, so he could regal her with murderous tales of homicidal muppets.

"Dance your cares away…" Skip started to hum quietly and Castle automatically clapped. They grinned at each other like Cheshire cats and sang together, "Worry for another day."

Humming the Fraggles theme, they moseyed over to a door in the wall that led to the kitchen/dining area. A large oak wood dining table dominated the ambience. Along the dark purple walls – Kate would really dig that – sideboards filled with silverware, serving dishes and dinnerware lined up. On the opposite end of the room loomed the stainless kitchen. The state-of-the-art equipment beckoned Castle closer and he inspected everything from the double-door fridge over the oven/stovetop combination to the dishwasher. A large kitchen island, which could double as a breakfast bar, housed an impressive array of stainless steel pots, pans and other dishes. Two wooden cabinets with partial glass fronts gave the kitchen a more friendly design than the sterile feeling of the steel appliances. Rick could easily see himself and Kate cooking dinner and throwing a little party for their new D.C. friends in this kitchen. Maybe they'd invite her new colleagues over, so he could meet Squirrel and Fangirl and Kate's new partner and boss.

"This door leads to a storage room that contains the washer and dryer unit." Skip pointed to a door in the corner of the kitchen. "It conveniently connects the sleeping area with the living area through the kitchen."

Rick had to immediately think of something Kate told him early on in their relationship when they'd started preparing dinner together. The kitchen is the soul of every home. Another pearl of Beckett-wisdom passed down from Johanna Beckett to the next generation. Castle couldn't agree more.

"This corridor leads down to the entrance area." Skip explained but already turned to the left. "This is the master bedroom, which comes with an en-suite bathroom."

Rick stepped inside the room and for the first time felt disappointed by the condo. The shape was awkward because of the building's design, the large bed dominated the view and was placed awkwardly near the window. Did the other rooms not have the same problem or camouflage it better?

"It's small," Rick observed and was shocked by the tiny walk in closet. There wasn't much to take in, so he peeked into the bathroom. It only had a shower stall and that was a deal breaker for Kate. He knew how much she loved her long baths at the end of a stressful day at work.

Skip showed Castle the rest of the bedrooms, which were actually more decently sized than the master bedroom. The second bathroom was so small Rick was sure he could brush his teeth, use the toilet and shower at the same time.

Back in the entrance hall, Skip revealed another washroom for guests next to what Castle assumed must be the study room the realtor had promised earlier.

"When you mentioned you were a writer, I had to immediately think of the office in this listing." Skip opened the door to the room with a flourish. It was a sizable room lined with white, floor-to-ceiling bookcases on three walls. The large antique desk was bathed in direct sunlight from the big window. Peering outside, Rick could see the Rosslyn skyline.

"Now that's what I call a room for inspiration," Skip smiled proudly. Rick felt slightly sorry for the realtor because the room didn't really do anything for him. So he smiled politely and nodded.

Once the tour was over, Skip excused himself. He had to dash and meet another client. Castle thanked the younger man for his patience and expertise and made his way back to the hotel. He had purposely not scheduled any viewings for the early afternoon, since it was Saturday and he usually skyped with Alexis after lunch.

 

0~0~0~0~0

 

It was almost two o'clock and Rick Castle was sitting on the couch in his hotel suite, waiting impatiently for the small green icon next to Alexis's name to appear. On the stroke of the full hour, he heard the unmistakable Skype ringtone.

"Alexis!" Rick exclaimed excitedly.

"Dad! How are you?" A window with his beautiful little girl came on.

"Good, but how are you?"

"I'm great, Dad. This week has just been amazing. We did this trip across the country, following the early footsteps of the conquistadores. We saw these tiny villages and old ruins. You wouldn't believe how beautiful everything here is." Alexis gushed and Rick smiled.

"I'm glad you're having a good time."

"Don't worry, I'll be home soon dad, it's only two more weeks." A tinge of sadness crept into her voice.

"I know." Rick sighed. "I can't believe you won't be here for my book launch party. This is the first one you'll miss in ten years!"

"Ahh, but you have Beckett to keep you company now. She'll be much more effective at repelling blood sucking agents and publishers and ex-wives than I ever was. All she has to do is show her ring and point at her gun." Alexis grinned.

Rick sighed, "I don't know if Kate will come."

"Did you fight again?" Alexis' brows furrowed with worry.

"No, pumpkin. She's just got this really big case and she's been so busy I haven't even seen her all weekend. She even forgot to pick me up Friday at the airport."

"You're in D.C? I  _thought_  the room looked different."

"Yeah, I'm in our hotel suite at the W. But I'll be back in New York for the launch party next weekend and I'll definitely be there to pick you up at the airport when you land in two weeks."

"Will you say hi from me anyways?"

"Of course, pumpkin! So what are your plans for today?"

"Shopping, since we already hiked all the way into the city for the internet access, we might as well spend the afternoon here."

"Excellent choice, support your local economy." Castle chuckled.

"If you don't hear from me this week, don't worry, dad. We're headed to the national park, Corcovado I think, to see some wildlife."

"Can you bring me a capuchin monkey home as a souvenir?"

"No."

"Because it's illegal?"

Alexis laughed out loud, "That too, but mostly because they fling shit at you, like literally, and Kate would kill me and she's got friends who can help her hide my body."

"Right, I always forget about that part."

"Dad, my friends are getting restless. I need to go soon."

"Ok." Rick nodded reluctantly. "I miss you."

"Miss you, too, daddy."

"Be careful. And watch out for those shit-flinging monkeys. Do you get enough to eat?"

"Yes, dad." Alexis rolled her eyes.

"I'm testing your patience again, am I?"

"Yes, but you're forgiven, since you're over a thousand miles away and don't know what things are like here."

"Thank you, oh gracious daughter of mine."

"I really need to go now, dad."

"Okay, love you."

"Love you, too, dad, bye!"

The window with Alexis' face closed and Rick's heart sank a little lower in his chest. He closed his laptop and placed it onto the coffee table. Castle sank back into the couch and closed his eyes. She was fine. She looked healthy. Her voice was filled with wonder and excitement while she recaptured her recent activities for him. There was absolutely no need for him to worry. And she would be home soon. Two more weeks and then he'd get to hold her. She didn't know it yet, but he'd already decided he'd never let go of her again. He'd already ordered industrial-strength super glue to help him with that mission. Kate would disapprove, but she'd learn to live with a 19-year-old college girl permanently attached to her husband's hip.

A strange noise at the door caught his attention. He hadn't ordered anything from room service. Maybe one of the maids forgot something earlier and was bringing extra towels or fresh bathrobes. Castle rose from the couch and walked over to the door.

He recognized the unmistakable sounds of someone sliding their keycard repeatedly through the lock without the proper result. The person on the other side was getting increasingly frustrated, judging by the muttered curses and thinly veiled threats of bodily harm against that "stupid, god-damn lock."

Castle chuckled and flung the door open form the inside. He looked at the crouched figure in front of him, picking up the keycard they must have just dropped.

"Beckett!" He grinned, instantly recognizing his fiancée on the floor, "I know you feel bad about standing me up last night but there's no need to fall on your knees in front of me. It's already water under the bridge."

"Castle!" She looked up surprised and quickly rose to her feet.


	10. Chapter 10

 

_Warning: M-rated_

"You stayed," she breathed and looked at him astonished. They hadn't talked since last night and Beckett had been afraid that Rick flew back to New York first thing in the morning. She wouldn't begrudge him that, since she obviously didn't have time for him this weekend, and she didn't expect him to sit around and twiddle his thumbs waiting for her.

Castle automatically opened his arms to welcome her with a hug. Any lingering traces of resentment toward her and her new job evaporated, when her face lit up with a thousand-mega-watt smile the moment she laid her eyes on him.

Kate flew into his arms and brushed her lips over his in a ghost of a kiss. When he didn't immediately react, she pressed her lips on his mouth again and let them linger. She pulled back slowly and touched his cheeks with her hands, as if to reassure herself that it was really him and not some apparition her sleep-deprived but adrenaline-addled brain had conjured up.

She kissed him again and this time Rick responded. He ran his tongue across her lower lip, gently prying her mouth open. Her tongue snaked out to meet his and the minute they touched, a jolt of electricity ran down his body.

He could feel her shiver in his arms and knew she must have felt it, too. Instinctually he brought his arms up around her to fold her deeper into his embrace, as they kissed slowly. His tongue toyed with hers, ran over her teeth and dipped into the cavern of her mouth. A quiet moan escaped her throat and was muffled by their kiss. Castle's hands wandered down to her hips and pulled her closer.

She was safe. For the first time all day, she felt truly safe and let her shoulders relax. The tension she'd been feeling ever since she'd jumped out that window slowly left her body, which went a little slack in his arms. He noticed and immediately pulled her deeper into his embrace, as if he was trying to make her disappear into his tall frame. Oh god, how she'd missed this. Him. Her tall and ruggedly handsome man.

It was a cliché, but it was also the truth. He made her feel safe. Plain and simple. He gave her security and stability every day, even though she sometimes did her best to upset their equilibrium. However, as long as he waited for her with open arms at the end of the day, she knew she'd be all right in the end, no matter what events had transpired and conspired against her during the day. She wasn't ready to talk about it yet. She knew he'd only worry and get upset for her, but the truth was it was nobody's fault she didn't have the proper back up this morning. It was a new team and these things took time. There were always a few chinks in any armor that had to be ironed out. That didn't mean the bullet flying at her while she was in mid-air hadn't rattled her cage a little bit. She needed to feel alive in Rick's arms.

Beckett was a tall person herself, so she appreciated Castle's tall frame towering a little bit over her today. In his tight hug, it felt a little bit as if he was trying to wrap himself around her, absorb her body into his. In past years it would have made her feel claustrophobic but, these days with him, she sought it out. She had no complaints; she'd gladly disappear into him after the day's events, if it were physically possible. So she did the next best thing and hid in his embrace. She burrowed her face into the fabric of his dress shirt and inhaled his unique scent. Kate closed her eyes and let his strong arms hold her and calm her. She relished in his broad shoulders that cushioned her head. She loved the well-toned muscles of his arms that were wrapped around her protectively. Castle would never let anything happen to her. And though she wished she never would have had to find out for sure, she knew he'd give his life for her in an instant. The proof was on her chest. Sometimes it scared her a little bit that she had that kind of power over him. Wished she could somehow stop it. But at the same time she knew it was useless to fight it because she felt just the same about him. Granted, she'd made a living out of protecting other people, but in the end when it came down to it, she knew she'd take that bullet for him because a world without him was simply not a world she'd want to live in anymore.

"Are you… shorter?" she heard his amused voice, slightly confused, when he tucked her head underneath his chin. A mixture of a groan and a chuckle bubbled up her throat.

"No heels," Kate mumbled into his chest and Rick gasped in shock. Before he could ask what happened, she explained Rachel's new rule.

"Don't worry, I'll take you out to dinner tonight and let you wear extra-high heels that'll make you actually taller than I am."

Beckett shook her head, well, effectively she rubbed her face against the fabric of the shirt, and hummed, "I actually quite like it like this."

"Yeah?" He pulled back far enough to get a look at her.

"Yeah, you can be my knight in shining armor for one night."

"Do I get to ride on a noble steed?" He smiled down at her.

"I don't know, Castle, you're the one who stole that police horse."

"Borrowed," he immediately protested, "how many times do I have to tell you that?"

"Tomato, tom-ah-to." Kate grinned.

"What can I say? My subconscious was trying to meet you already years ago, when you were still a lowly uniform. It's a real pity you weren't there to arrest me. Would have spared me a second divorce and saved me  _a lot_  of money."

Beckett snorted, "Right, and you wouldn't want to fight your subconscious anymore than you would want to ignore the signs of the universe."

A small grin formed on Rick's lips. She remembered. It was one of the things he loved so much about their relationship. The way they had connected even before they'd gotten together, it may not have been a traditional friendship – and courtship if he was truly honest – but there were so many little moments they'd cherished and weaved into the fabric of their lives, so they could remember them forever. He'd never had that connection with another woman. Kate – and he for that matter – could remember the tiniest moments between them and recall them at the most convenient occasions… or inopportune moments when she reminded him of something stupid that he'd done years ago and he'd thought, hoped, prayed she'd long forgotten.

"Alright then, let me give you another sign," Kate smiled at him and cupped his cheeks between her hands to pull down his head. She gave him a long and passionate kiss.

"Oh, I know  _that_  sign by heart," Castle beamed at her, as his hands searched for hers. He linked their fingers together as he gently tugged at her arms to make her follow him. Walking backwards, he led Kate into the bedroom, never taking his eyes off of his beautiful fiancée. Halfway through the door, Kate disentangled their hands, so she could shrug off her blazer. Rick gave her a salacious grin and Beckett shook her head in mirth. She quickly popped the top buttons of her blouse and pulled it over her head. When she looked up, Rick had replaced his grin with a pout.

"I wanted to do that," he scowled.

"I'm sorry," Kate replied and closed the distance between them with a few steps. "Would you like to help me with my pants?"

"Not the same," Rick mumbled but reached out to grab her by the waistband anyway. He snuck his fingers into the space between the fabric of her pants and her skin and let them trail around her waist. Kate took in a breath and shivered involuntarily, making Rick smile.

"I love how you still react to my touch after all that time." He whispered and leaned in to kiss her.

"I love how you still make me feel when you touch me." She replied and kissed him back. They both reached for his shirt and started to unbutton it. Kate took care of the top half and Rick met her from the bottom up. They were still making out with each other, tongues dueling each other, teeth occasionally clashing when their hunger for each other made them a little bit too frantic.

She grasped the loose ends of his shirt and pulled him closer, craving the skin-to-skin contact. Her bra-clad breasts pressed tightly against his chest, and Kate let her lips wander across his naked shoulders. Rick hummed appreciatively and set to work on her pants. He quickly opened her belt and top button so he could sneak his hand down her slacks. Meeting resistance, he let out a groan, when he realized he missed another hidden button inside the seam that still fastened her pants.

"Not a fan of your new wardrobe, Beckett."

He could feel Kate smile into his skin at his frustration. Never one to be deterred easily, he quickly found and popped the inside button open and lowered the zip of her pants as well. Now he had much more room to maneuver his hand. Rick brought his left arm around her back, while he let his right hand slip down into her panties.

"Jesus, Kate, how'd you get so wet in such a short time?" He moaned into her ear, before he nibbled on her ear lobe. He wanted to pull off her pants, throw her onto the mattress and dive headfirst between her legs. Instead two of his fingers slipped through her folds and found their target.

Kate let out an audible gasp at the contact and accidentally bit his shoulder. Castle groaned, a mixture of pain and arousal, and began to rub her clit. Never mind how'd she get so wet so quickly, how'd she survive so long without this for a whole week? As wonderful as the sensation of Castle fingering her was, she wanted more. She  _needed_  him inside her.

Beckett pulled back and gave him a coy smile. They both instantly missed their connection, but Kate shimmied down her pants quickly, while Castle got rid of his. She stepped backwards and climbed on top of the mattress, with Rick hot on her heels. They were both now in their underwear. She lay down, inviting him along. He knelt down next to her body but hovered with his torso over hers. His eyes raked over her body, drinking in her flush skin, her swollen lips from making out with him, her dark eyes lusting for him and her hard nipples trying to poke through the thin fabric of her bra.

A flash of arousal lit up his eyes and made his cock throb in his boxers. How did he ever get so lucky to call this extraordinary woman his own? Rick kissed her hungrily and pressed his groin against her hipbone so she could feel his erection. Feel, what she did to him all the time. She kissed him back eagerly; their tongues intertwined but, for once, she was not fighting him for dominance. Kate's hand trailed down the side of his body, making him shiver, until she reached the waistband of his boxers. Her fingers wandered over the thin material to his front, where his erection already formed a prominent tent.

She cupped his hard cock through his silk boxers and Rick's hips gave an involuntary thrust. Kate smiled and leaned into his kiss, her tongue becoming a bit more demanding. She needed more, she wanted him to take her and make love to her already. But Rick was taking his sweet time enjoying their sexual reunion.

He broke their lip lock and trailed soft kisses down her chin and throat until he buried his head in the valley of her breasts. He'd rolled on top of her, propping himself up on his left arm, while he stroked her body with the other one. He turned his hand and let his knuckles brush softly over the naked skin of her belly. Kate gasped and her body rose from the mattress on its own accord. She could feel his hard cock nestled and throbbing between her legs, separated only by the thin material of her cotton panties and his silk boxers. It was driving her crazy. She wanted him so badly, she'd missed him so much.

Rick lifted his head to gaze at the soft mounds of Kate's breasts partially covered by the black lace. He raised an eyebrow and flicked her an amused glance. "Been expecting me?" He teased her smugly, as he unfastened the clasp at the front and let her breasts spill over the thin fabric.

"Shut up, I haven't changed since yesterday." Kate countered and immediately regretted it.

"It's okay, I'm not mad at you. How can I be mad at you when you lie bare like this in front of me." He whispered and lowered his head to capture her left nipple in his mouth. Kate let out a long moan and squirmed underneath him. Fuck this man and his talented tongue. Her hand flew to the back of his head where it toyed with his hair. Rick hummed appreciatively around her nipple, which created a new sensation. "Apology accepted," he mumbled around the engorged, red bit of flesh.

"It's not just that. I must smell like the Yankee's locker room. I haven't showered in a while and I chased a suspect earlier today." She protested half-heartedly. Rick let go of her nipple and pulled himself up for a passionate kiss.

"You smell sexy and a little musky, but mostly you just taste delicious." He mumbled at the same time as he nibbled on her lower lip. "We can shower later  _together_." He pulled back to catch her eyes and wiggled his eyebrows. Kate chuckled and rolled her eyes.

"Now where was I?" He pressed soft little kisses across her chest, spending a little extra time over her scar. His tongue laved the broken skin of her bullet wound, then trailed down to her right nipple. His mouth enclosed around the tiny mount of flesh and Rick began to suck.

Kate threw her head back into the pillow with a groan and arched her body into his. She could feel the heat pooling in her pussy, which throbbed in rhythm with Rick's tender caresses. Damn this man, he had her exactly where he wanted her: squirming and on the brink of an orgasm. It was time.

"Rick," she whispered but got no reaction. So she called his name again a little bit louder this time. Her hands were back at his head and gave a soft tug. Rick acquiesced and stopped his gentle ministrations to look up into her face. He was met with a smoldering gaze that told him everything he needed to know. Kate's mouth latched onto his lips in a hungry kiss that sent a tingly sensation straight down to his cock. Her tongue brushed over his again and again, sucking and soothing. His heart pumped inside his chest like crazy, he could feel the pounding in his head. Her kiss seemed to slow down everything around him and amplify his senses. She tasted so good, so sweet like… blueberries and a hint of coffee. For a split second he wondered what she'd eaten all day, before his focus turned back on the woman approaching her climax beneath him.

Castle broke away from the kiss and straightened up. He sat on his heels between her legs, down by her thighs. His hands wandered all over her body, taking her bra with him. She was now naked except for her white cotton panties. Rick quickly hooked a finger on either of her hips and pulled them down. They were soaked and ruined from her arousal. The water gathered in his mouth in anticipation of her sweet taste.

She lifted her legs to help him remove the last item of her clothing. Rick grabbed her right leg and slid her panties over it all the way down to her foot. However, once the leg was free, he didn't repeat the same on the other one, but instead stroked her calf with his palm. He bent his head down and kissed her on the inside of her leg. He placed another kiss a little bit higher, just below her knee. He let his tongue snake out and licked the soft skin behind her kneecap.

Kate gasped and fisted the sheets in response. He was going to kill her tonight. The maid would find her body tomorrow morning reduced to one big puddle. He was trailing soft kisses up the inside of her thigh now and she had a pretty good idea of what his intended target was.

"Castle," she exhaled breathlessly. He looked up at her with a question in his eyes. He looked like a sex god. A thin sheet of sweat was glistening on his well-toned chest. The color of his eyes had changed to the darkest blue, signaling the storm brewing inside of him. His hair was tousled from where she'd run her hands through it repeatedly and her long leg rested on his shoulder. He simply took her breath away. He was hers. Hers to take and keep forever. When she didn't immediately reply, he raised his eyebrows, waiting for further instruction from her.

"I want you now," was all she breathed as she sunk back into the pillows. He lowered her leg and spread them a little further apart to make room for himself. He licked his lips as he brought his head down to her pussy.

Kate sucked in air and drew her whole body in an arch, when his tongue made contact with her lips. Her hands clutched the bunch of sheets tighter. Moans spilled out of her throat uncontrollably. His tongue had already parted her lips and his mouth enclosed around her clit, sucking the little nub like there was no tomorrow.

"No, Rick!" Kat gasped out of breath and her hands flew down to his neck. They cupped the back of his head and she pulled him up towards her with the last of her motoric coherence.

"It's okay, Kate, I don't mind." He whispered but she kissed him desperately.

"No, inside me, now." She panted and pulled at his boxers impatiently, while he hovered above her. His cock was already straining to get out; she could see its head peeking out at the waistband. She pushed his boxers over his hips and down his butt, until his cock sprang free.

"I can't. I won't last that long." He gave her a bashful smile.

"Trust me, Castle, I'll be quicker." She kissed him again. Kate reached for his cock and gave it a couple of firm strokes, before she guided him to her entrance.

"Fuuuuck! Kaaaaate!" Castle groaned into their kiss, when he slid all the way into her wet and tight pussy. He pulled away from her lips and his hand flew to her hips to hold her still. "Don't move. Just give me a second."

When he penetrated her, Beckett let out a content sigh. Finally he was inside her, filling her just the way she wanted and needed. He bent his head to pepper her throat and shoulders with tiny kisses but Kate had none of it. She caught his head and steered him back for more kisses. Rick smiled against her lips and deepened their kiss, as realization finally dawned on him.

"I missed you, too, Kate, so much!" He whispered. Never one to express her feelings and needs quite so vocally, Beckett had reverted to showing him with her touches and kisses what she wanted and needed from him tonight. Well afternoon, whatever.

Today was not going to be the frenzied lovemaking of last weekend, when they'd reunited after a month of not seeing each other. After being deprived of sex for several weeks, their horniness had overshadowed everything else. They hadn't been able to keep their hands to each other all the way to the hotel. Not wanting to be recognized, Beckett had prohibited Castle from showing up at Quantico and took a cab to pick him up at Reagan airport instead. The cab ride from Arlington to the W Hotel had been the longest of both their lives. If the bellboy hadn't been riding up with them, Rick would have taken Kate in the hotel elevator – if she wouldn't have beaten him to it and jumped him first. Rick gave the kid probably the most obscene tip of his life, ushering him out of their suite with the suitcases only halfway through the door. The moment it fell into the lock behind the bellboy, Rick was on top of Kate, kissing and undressing her frantically. They never made it past the couch.

This time was apparently going to be different. With their sexual appetite and adventurousness they didn't have pure vanilla sex often. But today was not about satisfying their baser needs, today was all about them reconnecting as lovers. She'd missed  _him_  and not just the sex, Rick realized, and she craved the intimacy the good old missionary position with him on top provided. It reminded him of their second round the first night they slept together. Once all the sexual tension between them had been resolved and gotten out of their systems, they took the time to explore each other's bodies inch by inch.

"Make love to me, Rick." Kate's soft voice penetrated his memories when she broke away from their kiss. He felt a little choked up by her request, as if she'd just told him again for the first time that she loved him. Kate assumed a completely submissive role only on rare occasions; they often wrestled for dominance in the bedroom. Whoever was in charge was so because the other person _let_  them be. He could count on one hand all the times she had, for all intents and purposes, offered herself up to him from the get go like she had done just now. Maybe moving to DC wasn't such a bad thing after all, if the time apart between them made her so receptive to letting him take care of her needs.

Her dark eyes studied him carefully, as his face hovered above her. Instead of the witty comeback, he'd usually throw at her – because sex between them was always fun and lighthearted – his lips descended on hers in the most tender kiss. She closed her eyes and gave herself completely over to his gentle ministrations. His tongue danced around hers slowly, inviting her back into his mouth. Rick started to rock his hips softly and Kate moaned, when she felt him move inside her.

"I love you." She whispered a little breathless.

"I need you." He countered and picked up speed in his thrusts.

She rubbed her nose along his cheek, just below his ear and demanded, "More! Harder!"

Castle shuffled his hands a bit around, looking for better purchase to drive himself deeper inside her.

"Oh god, yes!" Kate exclaimed and arched her body up into his. "Rick!" Her hands travelled down his sides and across his loins to the valley where his back met his ass. She held onto him tight and pressed their bodies together.

Rick's head rested next to hers and she could feel the hot pangs of his breathing by her ear. It was an incredible turn on, to listen how his breaths quickened as his arousal climbed. Kate squeezed him inside her and he groaned into the pillow.

"Kate!" He complained. "I'm not gonna last if you keep torturing me like that."

"Shh, I'm almost there." He felt her hot breath on his ear shell and then she nibbled on his ear lobe. "Tell me how much you missed me."

"So much, Kate, so much." He panted. "I thought about you all the time. I missed you so much."

"Did you…?" Her breath caught in her throat, as his cock switched to a slightly different angle and stimulated her clit more.

"No," he groaned, "you're killing me, Kate."

"I did," she confessed. "I had a long, hot bath Wednesday night, thinking about you, about us together." Her fingers ran up his spine and she could feel him shiver. "I thought about this, how you feel inside me. How good it feels when you fill me with your hard cock. But my fingers were a very, very poor substitute for you."

"Kate!" He whined.

"Let go, Rick. Come for me." She encouraged him, her nose caressing his ear. "I'm so close."

He lifted his head and stared into her eyes. Rick pulled almost all the way out and then thrust inside her deeply. He knew he'd struck the right angle, because Kate's fingers dug into the flesh on his back. The pain was a welcome outlet for his sexual frustration. He was determined not to come before her, but she was making it increasingly difficult with her dirty talk. So much for submissive Beckett, he should have known it was all an act to tease him.

Kate closed her eyes overwhelmed by the new sensation of Rick's cock stroking all the right places. She could feel the first tingles of her orgasm approaching. It was going to be a big one she could tell.

"Open your eyes." Castle demanded.

"Can't, feels too good." Kate moaned.

"I want you to look at me, Beckett." He growled and stopped moving.

Kate's eyes snapped open and glared at him angrily, "Don't stop, Castle. You can't tease me like that, I'm almost there."

"You're the fucking tease, Kate, whispering all those naughty things into my ear." He accused her and picked up his movements again.

"Just telling you what I did while you weren't here." She smiled innocently. He reached that spot again and it took all her willpower not to shut her eyes again.

"That's it, Kate." Castle groaned. "Look at me. That's it, look at me making love to you. Can you feel how hard and ready I am for you?"

"Yes, god, yes!" Kate panted.

"A whole week without you, Beckett. No text, no call, not a single word. Just the memories of you, sprawled out on that couch, panting my name over and over, while I rode you relentlessly."

"Rick," she whispered breathless. "Rick, oh god, Rick."

"That's right, say my name, Kate. Don't you forget whom you've been lusting after all week."

"Fuck, Rick, I'm gonna come." She moaned, "Make me come."

Castle reached between their bodies, cupping one mound her breasts, and kneaded the flesh.

"Come for me, Beckett. I want you to come for me." He encouraged her. His fingers left her breast and found her sensitive clit. The minute his thumb stroked over the engorged mound, Kate screamed his name and came undone in his arms.

Rick watched her for a few moments in the throes of passion, before his own body succumbed under the relentless hold of her pussy over his cock. Her name, a long drawn-out moan, tumbled over his lips, as he spilled inside her.

Kate's lips sought out his for a searing kiss, as she came down from her high. Castle's last few thrusts turned sloppy, trying to prolong their climax as long as possible. She could feel his cock jerking inside her erratically in response to her pussy's lingering throbs around him. They only broke their kiss, when they had to come up for air.

"Wow," Kate sucked in her breath.

"Wow, indeed." He simply looked adorable with his cocky smirk, tousled bed hair and those last traces of that dopey look he always wore in the moments right after they had sex.

"Jackass," Kate smiled. She reached up to run her fingers through the strands of hair that fell over his forehead in complete disarray.

"Tease," Rick grinned.

They laughed and kissed again. Kate was still craving to touch his body, so her hands began to stroke his sides. Up and down, up and down. Her mouth muffled Rick's appreciative hums. They lay for a while in a tangled mess of limbs and sweaty bodies until Rick made a move to roll on his side. Their lovemaking had drained him completely and he found it increasingly harder to support his own weight with his arms.

"Don't you dare move!" Kate's hands gripped him and held him in place.

"Beckett, I'm crushing you." Castle protested.

"Then you'll crush me but you're staying put." She wasn't ready yet to give up the intimate connection of their joint bodies. "At least until you go soft."

"Considering those things you just purred into my ear not five minutes ago, I think that's highly unlikely for a whole week." He shook his head and kissed her passionately. But eventually his erection went away and he slid out after a while.

"Small spoon?" He raised an eyebrow at her in question, before he moved off her. Kate considered his offer for a moment, then shook her head and rolled over to snuggle into the crook of his right arm. She pressed her body close against his side, wrapping one leg over his. Her knee brushed his sensitive cock and Rick let out a quiet hiss.

"Better," she sighed, resting her head on his shoulder. She stretched her head a little to place a small, soft kiss on his neck.

"Mmmm, what was that for?" He sighed dreamily and shuffled around until he found a comfortable spot in the pillows. Beckett suppressed a chuckle. He could be such a girl sometimes after their lovemaking. He was the complete opposite of most men she'd dated before. Will was rolled up into a ball and out like a light, two minutes after his climax. Josh liked to spoon her from behind, arms wrapped around her possessively. They'd share a little pillow talk before he snored off.

Unless she wore him completely out during sex, Castle liked to touch and talk and kiss and cuddle and generally bask in the afterglow of their lovemaking. Sometimes he would just look at her with those deep blue eyes of his, studying her face, as if he wanted to memorize every wrinkle, every crease, every freckle on her skin. With any other man it would have made her feel insecure and self-conscious but when Rick did it, it was like a silent love letter.

This was what she'd missed all week. This quiet moment of perfection, when they lay in bed kissing and cuddling after sex, moments away from falling asleep from exhaustion.

"You must be tired." It was less of a question and more of a statement, as if he could hear her thoughts. "You didn't come back last night."

"We had a break in the case after we talked." Kate mumbled sleepily.

"See, even when I'm not officially your partner, I help you solve cases." He smiled smugly.

"We didn't solve  _anything_. We just identified a new promising round of suspects."

Castle looked at her, waiting for her to continue, but apparently that was all she was going to share. He knew there was something more, something that might have triggered Kate's unusually clingy behavior this afternoon. What he didn't know was whether she was not allowed to talk about it or just not ready to share it with him.

"I missed you, Castle." She finally said it. If she had to deflect, this was his favorite method of hers. "I'm so glad we're not doing the long distance thing because this week without you has been hell." Kate confided.

"Same here, that long distance thing totally sucks." Castle reassured her. "Don't worry, once I'm done with the launch of  _Deadly Heat_ , we'll move in together into our awesome new place here and before you know it, I'll be around you all the time again, driving you crazy."

"Good, I like it when you drive me crazy." Kate yawned.

"And I like driving you crazy." Castle smiled and kissed her forehead. "Now catch some sleep, you've been up 24 hours. Can't catch any whistleblowers, if you need toothpicks to keep your eyes open."

"That's what coffee is for." Kate mumbled in protest, eyes already closed.

"Hush, my love, sleep." Rick chastised her and the term of endearment slipped out. Kate let it slide because she'd missed him so much.


	11. Chapter 11

They never made it to the restaurant like Rick had promised. While Kate's body finally succumbed to the exhaustion from running down leads non-stop all week, Castle dozed off, too. And when he woke after a short nap, he simply didn't have the heart to wake her and drag her out of bed for a night on the town. Not when she needed her rest so obviously.

It was sometime around midnight when Beckett stirred in her sleep and blinked bleary-eyed at her fiancé who was propped up against the pillows next to her in bed, typing away on his laptop.

"You know, if I didn't actually  _know_  you're writing about the fictional version of  _me_ , I might just get jealous that you bring your laptop to bed." She purred and stretched.

Castle watched her bend and twist like a cat and licked his lips. "Trust me, as long as you keep your feline agility like that, there's no need to feel jealous."

"Getting hard again so quick?" She rolled on her side and reached under the sheets. Kate frowned when she touched the silky smooth material of his boxers instead of the hot flesh of his penis. "So not cool, Castle."

"You were asleep. And judging from the way you just stretched like a cat ready to prance and prowl I was right to protect my most valuable… assets."

Kate snorted. "Your loss. Just for that I'm going to shower.  _Alone_." She threw over her shoulder, as she climbed over his legs.

"Wait," he stopped her mid-move, "are you hungry?"

"Actually I'm famished," Beckett replied and sure enough her stomach rumbled just when her brain was reminded of food.

"Let's order something from room service real quick before the kitchen closes. I left the menu on your bedside table."

"Ok." She retreated back to her side, while Castle already picked up the phone on his nightstand. "Do you already know what you want?"

"Yeah, I had a look while you were sleeping. They don't have full dinner after 10pm, but there are a variety of sandwiches and salads for you to choose."

Kate nodded and perused the folder, while Castle already ordered the wine and his sandwich.

 

0~0~0~0~0

 

After a light dinner, Rick ran Kate a hot bath. Instead of joining her, he let her soak alone, hoping it would give her enough time to process whatever had happened at work today. He wasn't stupid. He had recognized the signs immediately, when she rushed into his arms and kissed him so desperately. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy it, and they had both missed each other a lot, but he hadn't seen Beckett act so… needy for a lack of better word, since Gates had suspended her last summer. She couldn't have been fired already, could she? He knew Beckett sometimes bent the rules and went through a brick wall with her head, if she got caught up in a situation, but surely getting suspended one week into her new job would be a new record. Nah, it must have been something else. Maybe they'd been hazing her again about Nikki Heat, though he didn't know when they'd found the time, considering they were on the hunt for a national traitor.

The fact remained, however, that whenever Kate Beckett's professional life lay in shambles, she turned to him, Richard Castle, for reassurances that not  _everything_  in her life was going up in flames. He tried his best to be there for her, while she wrestled her demons. A small part of him actually took pleasure in it. Not that her job had taken a blow, but that she came to him.  _Needed_ him to tell her in not so many words but rather through gestures and touches that, no matter what happened, she still had him. That she hadn't sunk her private life with her professional one. It had taken them such a long time to get to the point, where she no longer shut him out, when that happened. Of course, he also knew that the healthy thing for her would be to talk about it and not hide behind glances and touches, so when she emerged from the bathroom, wrapped in one of those fluffy hotel robes, he reached out for her hand and pulled her into bed with him.

It took astonishingly little coaxing before she explained how she'd wanted to impress her new colleagues and got sent home when she chased a suspect without back up. Castle was livid. Naturally, he chastised Kate for being so stupid to put her life into danger like that, but mostly he was pissed that her new colleagues hadn't been there to have her back.

"Don't be mad, Castle." She tried to calm him down. "Nothing happened, I'm fine."

He shook his head and inspected every inch of her body for possible scratches and injuries.

"I'm pretty sure I would've noticed a blood trail by now, if he'd actually hit me. Besides, I was wearing my vest."

"Vests leave bruises," he reminded her, as his palm slid over her soft skin.

"He missed, Castle. He was a pretty bad shot."

"Don't do that to me, Kate." He kissed her shoulder blade. "I can't do this, if I have to worry about your safety all the time."

"Castle, nothing has changed. The risk has always been there, since the day we met."

"Yes, but back in New York I was  _with_  you."

"Need I remind you that it was my job to protect you and not the other way round?"

"Says the woman whose life I've saved on numerous occasions." He cast her a look.

"Shhh," she silenced him with a kiss. "I love you and I promise you I won't throw my life away in exchange for a quick collar. Ok?"

"Ok," he whispered back and deepened their kiss.

 

0~0~0~0~0

 

Sunday morning Kate Beckett was roused from her deep sleep by a vaguely familiar tune. "Castle, your phone," she mumbled sleepily and swatted his chest.

He reached for his cell groggily, "That's Skip." He checked the time. 8.13am. He wondered what the young man wanted from him so early.

"Who?" Beckett frowned.

"The realtor I've made appointments with this weekend." Rick explained and accepted the call.

"We're not buying a home from anyone named Skip!" She protested sleepily. The pillow muffled her groan.

"Skip, my man, how are you doing this fine morning?" Rick listened attentively to what the other man was saying and nodded his head occasionally. "No, that's fine. We understand. Don't worry. We'll see you at 11.30 then…. Yeah that's right, I'm bringing Kate along this time. I will. Bye."

Castle hung up and turned around to look at Kate who pretended she was asleep. "Skip had an emergency so we're meeting him at 11.30 instead of 10.45. He'll show us both properties back to back."

"I gathered as much. We're still not buying a house from Skippy."

"Aw, come on, Beckett. Give the kid a chance. You'll like him, you'll see. He's got your sense of humor. He showed me this condo yesterday and it had this god-awful flokati rug in what I assume was otherwise supposed to be the man cave. So Skip looks up from the rug, straight into my eyes and asks, 'How many Fraggles do you think had to die for this monstrosity?' Perfect dead pan delivery, too, I'm so gonna steal that for my next book."

"Fraggles!" Beckett exclaimed and straightened up in bed. "That's what that tune was!" It had been driving her crazy for the last few minutes that she couldn't identify the ringtone melody.

"Yeah, figured after that comment it would make a great ringtone for Skip." Rick grinned. "Now, how about we take a morning shower, order some breakfast and then get ready to meet Skip in Georgetown?" He wiggled his eyebrows at her seductively.

 

0~0~0~0~0

 

Maybe it was because Kate was with him this time, but Castle found the first townhouse they viewed already more appealing than either of the condos he'd visited yesterday. Skip gave them the quick run down on the details, before he excused himself to give Rick and Kate some privacy to explore by themselves.

It was a three-story house with 2500 square feet, a simple white façade and a stone staircase flanked by a large bay window on either side. A fairly large entrance hall with checkered tiles and high walls welcomed visitors into this stylish townhouse. A spiral staircase with a black iron cast handrail dominated the right side of the reception room.

Beckett stood in the middle of the hall awestruck. She knew that living with Rick would mean a certain lifestyle, but this bordered on decadent. She twirled once around herself, taking in the impressive surroundings. The room was large enough to host a small cocktail party. That was probably the original purpose of the whole floor, representation.

Castle had already ventured past the open archway into the next room. Very much like the previous hall, this living room was intended to entertain guests. A landscape of sleek, European-style modern sea foam green sofas adorned the left back corner. A pair of equally minimalist white armchairs completed the ensemble. Beckett noted that, surprisingly, the antique coffee table made from mahogany wood did not clash with the modern furniture.

She also noticed the dreamy look Castle gave the gigantic plasma screen mounted on the opposite wall. Beckett could already envision herself traipsing down the spiral staircase in the dead of the night, asking Castle to quit playing Halo on the big screen and join her in bed.

"What are you thinking?" Rick asked when the ghost of a smile hushed over her face.

Not wanting to rehash an old argument, Kate simply shrugged her shoulders, "Just trying to envision us living in this place."

"And?"

"I don't know…"

"It just doesn't feel like us." Castle finished for her and they both nodded slightly.

"Come on, we can at least take a look at everything to get ideas." Kate reached for his hand and Rick looked down where she linked her fingers through his. Little PDAs like this reminded him that they were no longer actively hiding their relationship from the world, or in particular the NYPD. That was one of the good things about her new job.

"Kate, there's something we need to talk about." Rick started uncomfortably when they stood in the kitchen. She gave him a curious look. "Paula wants us to do a few interviews together on Saturday." They slipped through another archway and found themselves in the dining room.

"Why?" Kate whined. "I hate doing interviews about Nikki Heat."

"I know." Castled hedged for a few moments. "It's not really about  _Deadly Heat_ , though I imagine there'll be some questions to be fielded about Nikki and Rook's relationship." He paused and squeezed her hand nervously. "Paula wants us to do an interview together… about us. About this." He lifted their hands to hold up her engagement ring.

"Oh!" Kate let out a breath. "You told her about us?"

"They figured it out on their own, well Gina really did, after your phone call."

Beckett looked at him silently, biting her lip.

"Say something?" Rick asked nervously.

"Gina knows?" She knew the day was coming when she'd have to face Rick's other ex-wife about their relationship, especially now that they were officially engaged, but the confrontation with Meredith had been enough.

"Relax, Gina is not going to make herself comfortable in the loft, claiming her old spot. We have a purely professional relationship now, she knows her place in my life."

Kate wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his chest. "You have too many ex-wives." She mumbled into his shirt.

"I know but this is a mistake I won't repeat again." He smiled down at her and she lifted her head, beaming at him. "This one's gonna last forever!" He declared and kissed her softly.

"Do I really have to do the interview? I don't want to talk about us, it's no one's business what we do." She pulled back.

"You're right, but if we don't speak out with the truth, they might print lies about us."

"They're still gonna print lies about us anyways." Beckett rolled her eyes. "They'll probably paint me as some gold-digging, star-struck fan who snatched one of New York's most eligible bachelors."

"Well you did strike gold with me and you  _are_  my number one fan."

"In you dreams, Castle, in your dreams." Kate tried to pull away, but Rick pulled her back.

"In my  _dreams_ , Beckett, you dress up like Nikki and bring a bottle of Tequ…"

"Is that what you want?" She interrupted him, suddenly feeling a little insecure. She'd never been one to care much about men's opinions, but she wanted to keep Rick forever. Never before had she been in a relationship where she actually wanted to  _please_  another man. Even now it wasn't so much pleasing Rick as trying to respect his needs and desires. When he looked at her confused, she explained, "Do you want me to be a bit more slutty?"

"What? No!" He kissed her soundly. "You're perfect just the way you are. I wouldn't change a thing about you. I like the way you dress for me, even at work. Professional but accentuating just the right parts. Makes it all the sexier. If you knew how many times in those incredibly long four years I went home to take a cold shower before bed..."

"Oh please, don't lie to me. You went out to pick up a blonde and have hot sex with her instead."

"Maybe, at first. But not later, after Gina and I split," he lowered his voice and held her a little closer in his embrace, "while I was waiting for you, I'd just go home.  _Alone_."

"And write dirty little sex scenes for Nikki and Rook?" She teased him.

"And masturbated thinking about you." Castle finally conceded. "There. Happy now?"

"You never told me why you broke up with Gina?" Kate asked carefully and pulled back from his embrace. "I didn't ask before, but we're getting married…"

"She wasn't you." Castle stated simply and shrugged his shoulders. "We were fighting a lot, as everyone could read in the papers, until we were arguing about fighting. It was not the relationship I wanted I realized quickly. In my mind I always compared her to you. Beckett would say that, Kate wouldn't do that. You know, looking back we never had a chance. She wasn't  _whom_  I wanted. You were constantly on my mind ever since you turned down the weekend in the Hamptons. But you were with Demming first, and then Josh… and I foolishly tried to convince myself I was in love with Gina again. But it doesn't matter what the brain tells us to do. The heart wants what the heart wants."

"Ohh." Beckett drew out the word shocked. "I was actually thinking about your divorce, you know so I'd know what… I mean so we won't repeat old mistakes…" She was rambling and she knew it, but he had just told her he'd been in love with her all along. Almost from the very beginning. She wanted to ask him why he took Gina to the Hamptons in the first place, but he couldn't have known that she'd ditched Tom for him. "You were in love with me even then?"

He gave her a small nod.

"Why didn't you say something?"

"And have you throw it in my face at every opportunity?" He looked at her incredulous. "Besides, you were with Josh at the time. You hated my guts back then, Beckett. Why would I make myself vulnerable like that? And I tried to test the waters; that's why I invited you out to the Hamptons for the weekend. To see if we would connect outside of the precinct as friends or… lovers."

"I think we connect pretty well." She smiled and gave him a chaste kiss. "And hate is a pretty strong word."

"So what do you say about the kitchen then?" Castle had shared more than he wanted and was looking for a distraction. He turned her around in his arms, so she could see for herself.

"It's ok. Not as nice as the one at the loft, but bigger and better than my old one anyway."

"Doesn't look like anyone's ever cooked in here, though." Castle remained skeptical.

"That would mean we'd get the appliances in pristine condition."

"Since when are you the one looking for the silver lining?" He grinned at her.

"Must be from hanging around you too much."

They left the kitchen and returned to the entrance hall. As they were ascending the spiral staircase, Castle made a comment about using one of those in his next novel.

"So Nikki finally takes down the door and there he is. The suspect they've been trying to find for days, hanging by a rope from the spiral staircase. It looks like suicide and a letter with a confession lies conveniently on the sideboard in the room, but you and I both know it's a red herring, of course. The real killer set him up as a patsy and strangled him."

Kate shook her head, smiling, as she listened to her fiancé spinning already the plot for the next Nikki Heat. Which reminded her of the party on Saturday.

"Castle?" She called his name for attention. He had already entered the first bedroom.

"Yeah?" He turned around.

"How many interviews?" Beckett followed him into the room. It was of decent size but didn't have a lot of light. It would make a good guestroom but for Alexis they'd have to find something better.

"You mean on Saturday?"

She nodded.

"Only a select few. Paula suggested I'd do a press conference announcing our engagement. Afterwards she'll arrange an exclusive with a few reporters who've been treating me kindly in the past. That's where you'd join me. You wouldn't have to be at the press conference."

"I won't answer any intimate questions about us." She was leaning against the wall, her arms folded.

"But you'll do it?"

Kate nodded, "They'll badger us until we do it anyway. I don't want them to follow me around while I'm working. They'll just print what they want in the meantime. If we do the interview now, maybe they'll leave us alone and stick to the truth for once."

"That's what Gina and Paula said. And Kate, you've handled press at crime scenes before, you already know the two most important words when dealing with someone from the media."

"I do?" She frowned.

"No comment." He grinned. He was just about to lead her out of the bedroom, because really, there was not a lot to see, when Beckett's cell phone rang.

"It's work." She checked the caller ID and Castle's face fell.

"I thought you said Rachel sent you home for the weekend? Which, by the way, is even a new record for you, Beckett. One week in on the new job and already you break the rules? Where's the straight-laced NYPD detective I met five years ago, who wouldn't even let me jump the line at the DNA lab?"

"She hung out with you for said five years." Kate rolled her eyes. "Look, I forgot to mention that there'll probably be an inquiry this afternoon about the shooting yesterday. They're calling to schedule it." Rick nodded.

"Beckett," Kate barked into the phone, "what's up Hendricks?"

" _It's over."_

"What?"

" _We got him, Nikki. It's over."_

"What? When? How?"

" _It's all over the news. He beat us to it and went public. Turn on your TV, it's breaking news on practically every station."_

"I can't. No TV access. I'm looking at houses with my fiancé."

" _Oh, I like this new domestic side of you, Detective Heat."_

"Shut up. So what's next for us?"

" _Rachel wants us in the office at 3pm for a debriefing. That includes you. Your hearing is scheduled afterwards."_

Kate looked at her wristwatch. It was now almost noon. "Ok. I'll see you then." They said good-bye and hung up. When she looked up, Castle was gone. Great, now he was pissed at her. She checked every room on the upper floor for him but couldn't find him.

Finally, she went downstairs again. Maybe he was talking to Skip. She hoped he hadn't stormed out of the building. Kate could understand that he was upset that she got called away, when he expected to spend the whole day with her. If she left straight from the next property, perhaps a little early, they could at least do their second viewing.

"Edward Snowden." Castle greeted her, when she found him in the living room, watching the news with Skip. He didn't look mad at all. Curiosity had simply gotten the better of him, so when she mentioned TV in connection with her case to Matt, he'd hurried downstairs to turn on the TV. "There are conflicting reports on his whereabouts, some say China, some say Hong Kong, some Japan, some Russia. A few mention Hawaii."

Dammit, Hollister's team had the right suspect all along, even if he'd managed to evade them, while she risked her life chasing down a junkie.

"Is he the guy?" He looked at her and she crossed the remaining distance between them in a few strides.

"No, I can't tell you the names, but he wasn't the one my team was going after. Hollister's team was deployed to Hawaii to follow up on leads regarding Snowden."

"Oh, so he  _was_  on your radar?"

"He was one name of many on Rookie's list of new suspects. Nothing indicated that he was the whistleblower." Kate tried to keep the information as vague as possible, since Skip was in the room with them, while still answering Castle's questions.

"It's always the quiet ones. So you have to go in?" He muted the TV and turned to her.

"Yes, later. We meet at 3pm. That leaves us with a little over two hours before I have to leave. Let's wrap up this one and rush over to the other property." She glanced at Skip for confirmation, "You set them up back to back, right?"

"Yes," the younger man nodded eagerly. He looked at her with a hint of awe, probably brought on by the knowledge that she was an investigator on such a high profile case.

"Did you look around upstairs more? I didn't check out any other rooms." Castle drew her attention back to him.

"A little. The master bedroom was ok, a little dark for my taste, but the en suite bathroom was to die for. Marble stones, brass finishing, a ridiculously sized Jacuzzi tub and a shower large enough for two." She grinned at him.

"But?"

"Nothing else. And I mean nothing. The master bedroom with its walk-in closet and en suit bathroom takes up most of the space on the top floor. There's another bedroom, which is larger than the one we were in when I got the call, and a smaller but full bath for the other bedrooms to share."

"Would the second bed and bath be big enough for Alexis?"

"Yes, but I'm still not feeling the vibe."

"That's okay, Kate. We're buying a house together for the first time. No one expects us to fall in love with the first property we see."

"Shall we take a quick look at the lower level?" She grabbed his hand and pulled him back to the entrance hall, where Skip was already waiting.

The lowest floor was not accessible by the spiral staircase but a small door slightly hidden behind it. A short dark set of narrow stairs led down to what Rick jokingly dubbed the dungeon.

"Where was this when Alexis turned fifteen? I could have used this to lock her away from the boys."

"Like Alexis  _ever_  gave you reason to be concerned about teenage pregnancy. She can lecture  _you_  on responsibility." Beckett rolled her eyes.

"I thought that was your job," Castle quipped.

"It's not really a finished basement," Skip interrupted their banter, "even though it's partially below ground level because of the way the house it built into hill. Technically we're street level now, because the stairs outside lead from the street to the mid level with the reception rooms."

They reached the end of the stairs and spread out on the lowest floor.

"Now the nice thing about this lower level is that it gets lots of light still. It would be ideal to set up a space for guests. It's like a small apartment. The separate level means they can be fairly independent of you, there's also a small kitchenette and a large bathroom that can be shared between the guest rooms. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll leave you two to take a look around, while I make a phone call upstairs. Reception isn't too good down here."

Once Skip was out of earshot, Castle turned to Beckett, "Can you say servants quarters?"

"I know. I bet the previous owners were stinking rich with live-in maids and butlers."

"They couldn't have had a cook the way that kitchen looked untouched." Castle chuckled. "So who slept in the third bed room?"

"The chauffeur!" They simultaneously shouted and broke out into laughter.

"You're right, this house is so not us. I like luxury but this is even a little over the top for me."

"Though I quite like the idea of a separate floor with a small kitchenette for Alexis."

"She won't be living with us, Kate. Much as it would please me, I doubt she'll move in with us here in D.C. after college."

"I know but I thought it would give her the independence she needed when she returns to visit us. I found it really difficult the first time I came back from college and stayed with my parents again. Suddenly all my new-found independence was gone, my dad wanted to know where I was going, my mother wanted to know if I'd be home for dinner…"

Silence spread between them, because even though neither one of them mentioned it, they both knew what happened a few weeks later. Young Kate Beckett would have willingly traded all her independence for a few more years with her mother.

"Come on, let's head over to the next listing." He took her hand and squeezed it softly to give her a little bit of reassurance.


	12. Chapter 12

Monday morning Kate walked into the office, officially cleared in the shooting and back on duty. As she strode purposely past the row of cubicles, she wondered whether Rachel was going to put her on desk duty or find some other form of disciplinary action for breaking the rules.

Beckett stopped dead in her tracks, when she hit her team's row and found McCord, Hendricks and Richmond reading books at their desks. She pulled out her phone to take a picture and sent the snapshot to Castle. They all were reading the same book. And not just any book.

"Really, guys!" She exclaimed, and all three of them looked up at her innocently. "Don't you have anything better to do?"

"Actually, no," Matt explained and went back to reading.

"What about Snowden?" Kate's phone vibrated and she checked the message from Castle:  _Justifiable homicide? Googling places to hide bodies in DC right now._

"Legal department," McCord shrugged her shoulders. "With Snowden out of the country it's now between the lawyers and diplomats."

"Don't we have paperwork to fill out?" Beckett looked at them astonished. Oh this was already so much better than at the NYPD.

"Oh we don't, but you do," Rachel gave a nod to Beckett's desk where a small pile of documents lay waiting. Kate growled inwardly and flared her nose. She should have known Rachel would discipline her for going after the suspect alone. Taking the punishment – and the  _Heat Wave_  hazing – in stride, Kate sat down at her desk and began filling out forms and signing reports.

" _She felt the muscles of his abdomen,_ " Beckett heard Hendricks voice reading a passage from  _Heat Wave_  out loud, " _flex hard against her as he curled his head upward, nibbling the soft flesh where her neck met her collarbone._ "

She rolled her eyes at him but Matt continued reading unperturbed. " _Nikki stirred and began to unbutton his shirt. Rook was making a project out of her blouse button so she rose up, straddled him on both knees and ripped the blouse open, hearing her buttons skitter against the hardwood floor near the baseboard._ " Matt stopped and made a show out of letting his eyes run up and down Kate's blouse and licking his lips salaciously.

Beckett just shook her head at him and focused on the witness statement in front of her. Determined no to let them know how much their Nikki Heat hazing was actually grating on her nerves, she decided to ignore them. If she showed no reaction, then maybe it would stop sooner.

Kate had never appreciated Ryan and Esposito's support over the years more than at this moment. Sure, there had been good-natured ribbing about Castle shadowing her and basing a character on her, but their jokes had never been explicitly at her expense. And even  _after_  she and Castle had hooked up, they'd accepted that relationship like any other and kept the innuendos down to a minimum.

Rachel picked up where Matt left off. " _With one hand, Rook unhooked the front clasp of her bra. Nikki shook her arms out of it and made a frenzied dive onto him._ "

Rachel grinned and wiggled her eyebrows at Kate, who sent her a glare that said, 'Et tu, Brute?'

" _Their wet skin made a slap as her chest landed on his. She reached down and unhooked his belt. Then undid his zipper. Nikki kissed him again and whispered, 'I keep protection in the nightstand.'_ " McCord paused, glancing at her for good measure.

Matt took over Rook's role and continued, "' _You won't need a gun,' he said. 'I'll be a perfect gentleman.'_ "

He and Rachel were clearly enjoying trading lines between them way too much for Kate's liking. She tried to blend out Rachel's voice as she read on, "' _You'd better be not.' And she pounced on him, her heart pounding high in her chest with excitement and tension._ "

Beckett could feel her cheeks blush with embarrassment anyway. Of course, they would choose the Tequila sex scene for their little public reading. She turned around to see if any of the other agents were listening in, but thankfully everyone else was actually working. She was gonna kill Castle for writing that scene. But first she was going to kill them for reciting it loud enough for the entire floor to hear. Kate turned to Richmond, expecting him to join Rachel and Matt in their latest hazing session, but the poor kid fidgeted uncomfortably and nervously in his chair. His face was an even darker shade of red than Beckett assumed hers was. Rookie was practically looking anywhere but her, torn between avoiding her eyes and mentally undressing her. Kate's mouth opened to say something, but words failed her.

"Seriously?" She turned back to Hendricks and McCord. "That's the best you can come up with?" Beckett schooled them with a death glare, pretending their teasing rolled right off her back. "Amateurs!" Kate huffed indignantly.

She heard Richmond clearing his throat to excuse himself – no doubt to make a beeline to the men's room with his copy of  _Heat Wave_  strategically placed in front of his crotch. Kate rolled her eyes and shook her head disappointedly at her new team members.

"So?" Matt looked at her with a devilish grin.

"So what?" Kate's voice was laced with irritation.

"Is Richard Castle the perfect gentleman?" He asked, watching her reaction carefully. He didn't let on that he knew the secret identity of Kate's fiancé but that didn't mean he couldn't tease the hell out of Beckett until she shared said information with the rest of the class. That was part of the reason he'd picked that particular scene to read. To see her reaction. To see her squirm and try to talk herself out of it.

"Why don't I give you his number so you can ask him out and find out yourself?" Kate shot back.

"Ouch," Rachel made a hissing sound, "Burn." She waved her fingers at Matt, who scowled. That was not the reaction he'd expected. Damm, that girl could think on her feet. She hadn't even batted an eyelash. Beckett hadn't shown a single sign that the sex scene in the book was anything else but a pure figment of Richard Castle's imagination.

"You know, I think I'll take these to the break room and have a coffee while I finish.  _If_  you decide to act like mature adults again, you know where to find me when we catch a new case." Beckett grabbed a pile of folders and left a speechless McCord and a guilty looking Hendricks behind.

Maybe they'd gone too far and overdone it. With Beckett pulled in for her interview about the shooting, they'd lingered on after the debriefing. Just in case. McCord was mad that Beckett had tried to play hero, but she wasn't going to throw her under the bus. It was a clean shooting and she and the boys would back her up no matter what. While they were waiting, Rookie had regaled them with stories he'd heard about Beckett at the NYPD. Apparently one involved a tiger and the theft of a corpse straight out of the coroner's van. Rachel had looked at Richmond skeptically, but he had insisted that it was true and Castle even used it in his second novel.

That's when they'd come up with the idea to show up with a Nikki Heat novel in the morning to tease Beckett. When Matt saw that they had all chosen  _Heat Wave_  independently of each other, he thought it would be funny to read out passages, when she arrived. They'd spent the few minutes before Kate's arrival thumbing through pages, until Richmond made an off-handed comment that they could always read the sex scene. Rachel and Matt perked up in their chairs with renewed interest in their reading material. There was a sex scene? Why had no one told them about that?

 

0~0~0~0~0

 

With no new case, Beckett actually got to go home early after she'd finished all the paperwork. At some point Rookie had joined her in the conference room, helping her, obviously feeling guilty for what they'd done to her. Kate didn't say anything and they silently filled out and signed reports together until lunch. When she returned from her lunch break, the stack of files was gone and she found McCord, Richmond and Hendricks all doing their share. She clocked out at 4.30pm.

Rick took Kate out shopping in Georgetown for a dress in the evening.

"You don't have to buy me a dress, every time I accompany you to one of our events," Kate told him as they strolled around Georgetown window-shopping.

"I need to know what you'll wear to the party, so I can match my outfit."

Right, because her boyfriend was a metrosexual who sometimes spent more time styling his hair than she did in the morning. "What if I can't find anything? I honestly haven't seen a single dress that caught my attention so far."

"We'll just keep looking. And there's always New York." He shrugged his shoulders. "I'm sure we'll find you something nice."

Shortly before sunset, they stumbled upon a nice restaurant by the river that wasn't overrun with tourists and sat down for dinner.

"I talked to Paula. She's set up four exclusives after the press conference."

"That sounds manageable. I haven't had a chance to talk to Rachel about the weekend. I think she's still a little pissed about the incident."

"That  _was_  pretty stupid of you, Kate. You could've gotten killed." He reminded her.

"I didn't see that he had a gun, ok?" She gave him an irritated look. "I thought we covered that last night."

"Don't look at me like that. I'm allowed to get upset over things like that now that I'm going to be your husband." Rick defended himself. "I'd really like for this wedding to be my last one."

She put her hand over his.

"It's hard for me, Beckett… sitting around, waiting for you to come home. When I was with you on cases, it was different because I was there with you right in the thick of it. I didn't really have time to think about the danger we were exposing ourselves to. Besides, I was always there to save your life."

Kate snorted but Rick didn't let that interrupt him. "Now I don't know where you are or what you do all day and my writer's imagination comes up with one scenario after another, one worse than the other, of what could go wrong."

"I love you, Castle," Beckett looked into his eyes deeply, her thumb softly stroking the back of his hand, "I'm not going to leave you. I'm planning on living a very, very long life with you."

"But you can't be sure." He shook his head. "No one, no suspect, no murderer, no terrorist is worth losing your life over going after them. Not even Bracken, Kate. I want you, I  _need_  you to promise me that you will tamper down your ambitions and desire to impress everyone and never  _ever_  go anywhere without the proper back up."

"I promise", she whispered and gave him a chaste kiss.

"So when do I get to meet your new colleagues?"

"When hell freezes over."

"We could get together for dinner some time this week," Rick continued unperturbed.

"You're  _not_  going to meet them. That's all that I need, can you imagine what they'd do if they found out you and I are sleeping together?"

"You  _still_  haven't told them about us?"

"They were reading the  _Tequila scene_  this morning, Castle. Out loud. For the entire floor to hear."

Rick gaped at her, "They didn't! I'm so sorry, Kate. I couldn't see any page numbers on the photo you sent me. Just that they were reading  _Heat Wave_."

"It's okay, at least I think that was the highlight. I can't think of anything more embarrassing they could do. At least, I hope so."

"After Saturday they'll know." Rick mused.

"I know." Kate sighed. "And I dread already all the jokes that'll be flying around the bullpen Monday morning. But at least I won't have to  _tell_  them in person."

"Do you still want to do it? I mean the interviews. I'd understand… given the circumstances."

"No, Rick. Maybe it'll be good to just get it out there. Let my pesky colleagues make their juvenile jokes and let the press print their lies. They'll lose their interest soon enough. We're really not all that interesting."

"What if they won't?"

"Then I'll call in a favor at the twelfth and have them arrest Lindsay Lohan. That should keep the paps busy for a while."

"You wouldn't." Rick laughed out loud.

Kate shrugged her shoulders, "A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do."

"Have I ever told you how hot you are when you abuse your authority?" Castle leaned over the table.

"Want a sample?" Kate leaned in as well, their faces so close their lips were almost touching, when she spoke.

"Did they give you new cuffs?" Rick's eyes flashed with arousal.

"Ah-huh."

"I can't remember… does our hotel bed work with cuffs?" He murmured.

"Care to find out?" Kate glanced around to make sure no one was listening in on their conversation.

 

0~0~0~0~0

 

"They left me." Rick spoke into the silence of the bedroom. He spooned Kate from behind, running his fingers lightly up and down the naked skin on her arms.

"Hm?" Beckett moaned and pressed her back into his chest. Her whole body felt like jello after their latest round of lovemaking and her mind had yet to return fully to the real world.

"Meredith and Gina. You wanted to know why my previous marriages didn't work out. All my wives left me."

Kate inhaled deeply, before she turned around in his arms. She cupped his cheek and stroked her thumb over the rough stubble that was manifesting itself as his five o'clock shadow. She wanted to crack a joke to lighten the mood, but one look into his eyes, and she could tell how deeply hurt he still was by what he was going to share with her. So she kept silent and waited him out.

"The truth is, Beckett, I should have never married Gina or Meredith. I…" he trailed off, unsure how to explain. "I wanted to do the right thing you know? Both times. Do right by Alexis, you know? Give her a stable home, a proper family – everything I never had."

Kate nodded.

"I was so scared when Meredith told me. Not my best moment. I reacted poorly. I mean we were so young and I'd never intended for things to become so serious. I was still licking my wounds after Kyra, so Meredith was supposed to be fun and uncomplicated."

"And then she dropped this bombshell on you." Kate brushed a stray lock of hair that had fallen into his face back.

"I wasn't ready to be a father. We had a huge fight. Didn't speak for a few days. Then she called me out of the blue. She was crying." Rick paused as the memory washed over him. "She'd decided… she called me from the abortion clinic. She needed money and someone to escort her home."

Kate gasped.

"That moment I realized how much I actually wanted that baby. I told her to wait, drove over to the clinic, picked her up before she could have the procedure done, brought her home, sat her down and explained how I was going to take care of her and the baby." He paused again because he had to swallow the lump that had formed in his throat. "It worked for a while. After Alexis was born, Meredith couldn't even look at her. Labor was long and painful and the doctors reassured me that this was not entirely uncommon with first time mothers and only a phase. As weeks became months, it became clear that Meredith was not growing into her new role as mom naturally or easily."

Kate smiled, "Like you were willing to share Alexis with anyone anyway."

Castle grinned broadly. "Touché! Alexis was daddy's little girl from the very first moment. I had trouble putting her down for her naps. I just wanted to stare at her all the time. She was so beautiful and perfect. My perfect little angel." Their eyes met and Kate and Rick held each other's gaze for a moment.

"Did it come naturally to you?" Beckett asked. "Being a father I mean?"

"Yes and no. I mean, I loved being a dad from the moment they handed me that tiny little bundle in the hospital. But boy, did I make a lot of mistakes! Especially after Meredith left me and it was just Alexis and me."

"Can't have been easy being a single dad at such a young age."

"No, but in all honesty, it was harder  _with_  Meredith. She was never cut out to be a mother and I can't really fault her for that. She told me point blank at the abortion clinic but I talked her into keeping the baby. Much as I love Alexis and can't imagine my life without her, I should have never talked Meredith into something she wasn't ready for. Don't get me wrong, she loves Alexis in every way she can, but some days I worried she resented me for that. Especially because Alexis and I connected so quickly and deeply and she tried but she just didn't know how. We started to argue and fight a lot, made up, rinse and repeat. If we'd stayed together, it would've been more traumatizing for Alexis than breaking up."

"So she just left one day?"

"Not exactly, but I guess… I don't know… I've often thought if she did it on purpose, if she wanted  _me_  to be the bad guy and end our marriage…" When he saw the confused look on Kate's face, he realized he'd never told her what exactly had transpired in the last days of his marriage. "Alexis was three. I'd dropped her off at the kindergarten in the morning before a meeting with my publisher. It was flue season and half the staff was down for the count, so the meeting was cut short. I came home early, thinking I'd have the house to myself – back then we were living in a townhouse on the Upper East Side. Meredith was supposed to be at an audition."

Beckett furrowed her brows, an ill feeling forming in the pit of her stomach. "Oh no."

"Oh yeah," Castle gave a mirthless laugh. "She must have been auditioning for a western movie because I found her riding her director in reverse cowgirl in our bed."

"Castle, I'm so sorry." She ran her fingers through his hair. Apparently Meredith had left out the juiciest part regarding her break up with Rick. He simply shrugged his shoulders. "Wait, you said she left, you didn't dump her after that?"

He just sighed and rolled onto his back. Kate followed him and propped her head up, "Castle, no. Don't tell me you let her walk all over you! What the hell is wrong with you?" She slapped his chest softly.

"She's the mother of my child. Of course I was hurt and angry but somewhere deep down I hoped we would make things work."

"Much as I love you, Rick, if I catch you with one of our groupies in our bed, I'll kick you to the curb before you can say my name to apologize."

He rolled on his side and mirrored her position. "Duly noted."

"So what did you say?"

"Nothing. I was speechless, truly speechless for the first time in my life. I'd never seen it coming, so I just stormed out of the house, slamming every door behind me. I picked up Alexis from kindergarten and visited my mother. I asked her to babysit, since I didn't want Alexis to be anywhere near us for the fight I was going to have with Meredith. However by the time I got home Meredith had left. I didn't hear from her until a few days later, when she sent me divorce papers from LA. Apparently she was shacking up with her director in his Malibu beach house."

"That must have been hard on you."

"It could have been worse. Alexis couldn't understand, of course, and kept asking for her mother. I tried to explain as best as I could. Meredith's lack of maternal instincts proved to be a blessing in disguise, I'm sure it would have been harder on the kid, if she hadn't been more attached to me anyway. For a while Alexis and I did really well on our own. God, those years when she was in kindergarten and grade school were the best years of my life." He closed his eyes letting the nostalgia wash over him.

Kate smiled at the picture in front of her. Suddenly his eyes snapped back open, "But little girls don't stay little girls forever, and much as I wanted to be the center of the universe for Alexis, she was getting older and hitting that age where I became really worried about her, if she didn't have a strong female role model in her life."

"Flamboyant as she is, Castle, your mom's a pretty good role model to have around."

"Ah yeah, but back then she wasn't living with us. That was right before she met husband numero tres, who'd clean out her bank account a few years later. And you know when you're twelve years old there are some things you just don't want to talk about with your grandmother, much less your father."

"So you married Gina?"

Rick shrugged his shoulders. "It seemed to make sense at the time. We'd gone out a couple of times for business dinners after she became my editor. We'd been instantly attracted to each other… from the moment she tossed my manuscript back at me – covered in red ink. It looked like a crime scene, Beckett! She looked me straight in the eye and told me that quote 'If perhaps I'd spent my time a little less on philandering and more on writing, I might actually come up with a decent draft.' It didn't help that three weeks later I got arrested for borrowing that police horse in Central Park. I was so drunk I puked all over her shoes, when she came to bail me out. I figured it must be real love when she accepted my dinner invitation after that."

Kate laughed out loud.

"Anyway, Gina was on a mission to reform that playboy writer of hers. She said it made for good sales, the playboy image, but missed deadlines. She and my mother kept setting me up with what they deemed to be perfect girlfriends. I was miserable on all those dates. One night, after Gina read me the riot act  _again,_ I took her out for dinner as a peace offering. That was the first time we actually talked. You know like really talked. And we found out we actually had a lot in common, so one thing led to another..." He laughed softly. "Alexis really took to her, soon after we started seeing each other, so after I had the most awkward and embarrassing conversation of my life with my daughter about tampons and sanitary napkins, I decided she needed a female around. Someone she could look up to and confide and ask questions. I mean there's only so much you can research about tampons on the internet!" Rick shuddered.

"How long were you married?"

Rick raised his eyebrows, "Two years, give or take."

"How come she left you? She didn't betray you, too, did she?"

"No," he shook his head vehemently. "Gina's ruthless when it comes to business, but you've met her, in private she's a very kind person. She'd never do that to me after I told her about Meredith."

"So what happened between you two?"

"We couldn't keep our work life and private stuff separate. Never could, but it didn't become a problem until after she moved in. Until then we could just always go to our separate corners and cool off. Alexis and I have always had this really tight bond, and as naturally as Gina fit into our family, there were just those things we did that neither Alexis nor I really would let her be part of." He trailed off when he saw the deep frown on Kate's face. "What?"

"We work together."

"No. We  _worked_  together. Past tense. And even if we  _were_  still working together, it's different with you."

"How can you be so sure? For all you know we might have grown sick of each other if we'd been around each other 24/7."

"Well, we've been dating for over a year and so far I'm pretty thrilled every minute I get to spend with you. Why, are you getting tired of me?" He raised his eyebrows.

"No," Kate blushed with a smile, "I think we've established this weekend that I still can't keep my hand off you."

"For which I am very grateful by the way," he leaned in and kissed her softly. "It's different with you, Kate. It's… what I feel for you… I don't want to scare you but I'm so head over heels in love with you."

"Me too," she grinned and stole another kiss from him.

"You're the first woman I want to marry just because I want to be with her. I know this marriage will be different from the others and my last one because I'm doing this for myself. Well us… but you know what I mean. I'm glad Alexis is on board with everything, because it makes things so much easier, but you're the first woman I'm going to marry for  _me_ , because it makes  _me_  happy, because it's what  _I_  want and not what I think is the right thing to do or the best thing for…" The rest of his sentence was cut off, when Kate attacked his mouth hungrily with her lips. They kissed passionately, hand roaming over naked bodies, until their lungs ran out of air.

"It take it you approve of my reasons to marry you?" He gasped breathlessly.

"Very much," she grinned and gave him a quick kiss. She pulled back and gazed into his eyes until she was lost in their blue.

"Kate?"

"Hm?"

"What're you thinking?" He looked at her amused, "If you furrow your brows any more, you'll have a unibrow. Unibrows are very, very unsexy."

"Is that so?" she teased him. He nodded vigorously.

"Rick, I'm sorry about Vaughn."

"Huh?"

"Eric Vaughn. I'm sorry I didn't push him away before he tried to kiss me. I would never cheat on you, you know that right?"

"Of course," He moved around until he was propped up on his elbows. "Kate, I thought we've put this behind us."

"We have." She affirmed. "It's just… knowing what Meredith did to you…" She cast her eyes down ashamed.

"Hey now. We both made mistakes. I was so scared to define our relationship out of fear you'd run the other way if I asked too much that I didn't see how much you needed us to make a stronger commitment to each other." He glanced at the diamond ring gracing her left hand.

"But knowing what happened with Meredith… I understand now why you reacted the way you did."

"I trust you, Kate. I know you're not that kind of person."

"You didn't think Meredith was that kind of person, either."

"No, but… I don't know… I trust you in a way I've never trusted someone else before. We've been trusting each other with our lives long before we've trusted each other with our hearts, I guess that counts for something."

"I know I don't let you always in as much as you'd like, and I'm still working on that very, very hard, but I want us to work. So…  _ask_  Castle, if there's something you want to know, just ask instead of scratching and clawing. Like I did about your marriages. In case you haven't noticed, you've got your own secrets. You're not exactly an open book, either."

He opened his mouth to protest, "Well, if I'm not an open book, then you are one of those old medieval manuscripts with those seals that you need a key to open."

"You're missing the point, Castle. If we want this marriage to work, we've got to be honest with each other. We need to communicate our expectations and wishes better. We have to stop relying so much on subtext and gestures, we need to  _talk_  things out directly."

"You're right." He agreed.

"But?" She voiced the word he was thinking.

"But what if we push too far?"

"When we push too hard, we'll fight and we'll make up. It's like any learning curve."

"I don't want to lose you, Kate. I have this habit of putting my foot into my mouth and driving you crazy and poking and prodding you and…" She silenced him by putting her fingers across his lips.

"So far we've been doing fine mostly. I mean we're not a complete disaster, are we?"

"No."

"Good, then we'll figure things out. We'll just have to be patient."

A smile spread across his face, as understanding dawned on him. "I get it. You asked me about my marriages but you didn't push the issue right away."

She grinned, "No, because I knew you'd eventually talk to me about it. You just needed time to get your thoughts into order. Just like I sometimes need time to figure out how I truly feel about something when you ask me. Sometimes digging with a spoon instead of a shovel gets you further."

"Beckett?"

"Hm?"

"Leave the writing and metaphors to me, ok? That one was awful." He chuckled.

"You weren't complaining about my scenario for Hampton's Heat!" She protested meekly, her lips hovering above his.

"Fine, you can write the sex scenes, but only those."

"Suits me fine, I'm very good with those."

"Yes, you are, but you know what you're even better at with your hands and tongue?"

"Whatever could that be?" She teased him by almost brushing her mouth over his lips.

"Do we still have any ice cubes left?" He wiggled his eyebrows at her.

 

0~0~0~0~0

 

The next day Beckett's team was assigned to do a follow up investigation on Snowden's known contacts. Hendricks and Richmond drove out to meet with his parents, while Rachel and Kate interviewed his friends. They were just making their way back to the car, eating a falafel from a stand, when Beckett's phone rang. She checked the caller ID but didn't recognize the number.

"Beckett." She barked into her phone, throwing away the left over trash from her lunch, as she passed a trashcan on the sidewalk.

" _Is this_ _Agent Beckett_ _? I am Captain Farramore from Metro Police, I'm calling on behalf of one Richard…_ " She heard paper rustling on the other end and her heart stopped beating.  _"…Edgar Castle?_ "

"Is he okay?" Kate blurted out and stopped walking.  _Oh God, please let him be okay._

" _Oh yes, yes._ " The police captain reassured her right away and Kate breathed a sigh of relief. Out of the corner of her eye she caught the concerned look on her McCord's face who'd turned around when she realized Beckett was no longer keeping up with her. " _There's been an incident though._ "

Kate rolled her eyes, "What did he do now?"

" _So you_ _ **do**_ _know him? Well, I'll be damned, I thought for sure he was making up another one of his stories_."

"Sir, what kind of trouble is he in?" Kate asked cautiously. You never knew with Castle. "Did you arrest him?"

Rachel's head snapped up at the word arrest, which reminded Kate to lower her voice and turn her back on her new partner for a little more privacy.

" _Well, it seems that your fiancé, or at least he claims so, broke a police seal and entered a crime scene without permission._ "

"Excuse me?" Kate gasped. "He did  _what_?"

" _Yes, Mr. Castle here apparently read about a murder in Georgetown in the papers this morning and did some investigating of his own – I'm using this word very loosely now, agent. Apparently the story doesn't make_ _ **sense**_ _to him. He claims it's research for his next book. So he decided to '_ _ **help'**_ _my detectives, his words, not mine, when he found out a few details that didn't add up._ "

Kate sighed, "Of course he did. How bad is the damage he caused?"

" _Surprisingly little. He wore gloves and seems to be familiar with police procedures, so the crime scene wasn't really contaminated. He did try to remove a few items from the suspect's apartment, though he claims he was on his way to bring them in as evidence, when a patrol car picked him up._ "

Kate rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Sir, what kind of trouble is he in? Are you going to charge him?"

" _No, Agent Beckett. Though I didn't believe him at first and called the number he gave me out of curiosity, this is a courtesy call. You can come and pick him up right now if you want. However, if I catch him at one of my crime scenes again, I'll bring down the full force of the law, I don't care if he's engaged to a former cop_."

"Thank you, sir. I'm on an assignment right now, but I'll be there as soon as possible to get him." Kate started moving again.

" _That's alright, agent. Don't wait too long. He's been complaining about the coffee and sketchy police work, since he's been brought here, and I don't know how much longer I can keep my men from strangling him to make him shut up, if I put him into the break room_."

"Yep, that sounds like him. For my part, you can let him sweat a little and leave him in the interrogation room. Tell him you couldn't reach me. That'll teach him a lesson." Kate chuckled.

" _I don't want another homicide to investigate when you come pick him up_." The captain joked back.

"At least it'll be a quick solve. I won't resist the arrest. Thank you, sir, I appreciate the courtesy call."

" _No problem, agent. We're all on the same team_."

After the captain rattled of the station's address, he hung up. Kate looked up into the bemused eyes of Rachel.

"I didn't know you had a kid," McCord stated and Kate rolled her eyes. Before she could explain, Rachel pulled out the keys to the car. "Come on, I'll drive. The boys can finish for us. We'll call them on our way over to your son's school."

Kate opened her mouth in protest but didn't know what to say. Where should she begin?

"Geeze, Beckett. Get a move on." McCord yelled as she got into the car and leaned over the middle console to open the door for her colleague. "I'll need the address, too."

Kate got quietly into the passenger seat and rattled off the address.

"Beckett, that's Metro P.D.!" Rachel exclaimed surprised.

"Yeah, well. He managed to get arrested." Kate grumbled and massaged her forehead. "Again." She muttered.

"Again?" McCord repeated unsure if she'd heard the other woman correctly. "This is not his first brush with the law?"

"Unfortunately not." Beckett sighed.

"Shoplifting?" Rachel looked at Kate sympathetically.

"What?" Beckett whipped her head around confused. "No, nothing like that. He's just…" She trailed off and rolled her eyes, "boys will be boys."

"So what did he do this time?"

"Playing cop." Kate shrugged her shoulders.

"Playing cop? How  _old_   _is_  your kid anyway?"

"Most of the time it feels like I've got a nine-year-old on a sugar rush." Kate grinned, affection creeping into her heart.

"That bad, huh?"

"You have no idea!" Beckett grunted.

"I didn't even know you had a kid. Never pegged you for a mom." McCord explained.

"Yeah, well, I didn't exactly sign up for it." Kate smiled mysteriously. "Kinda just got dropped into my lap one day."

"Uh-huh," McCord grunted. "You should've told me, Kate. This changes things. If I had known you were a mother… Why was there nothing in your file?"

Okay, this had gone far enough, Kate realized. As fun as it was talking about Castle like that with her new colleague, she had to come clean with her new supervisor.

"Yeah, about that…" Kate began.


	13. Chapter 13

Beckett watched Castle through the one-way mirror. He looked like a petulant little boy, running his right index finger along the edge of the desk – obviously bored out of his mind. Rachel McCord stood next to her, still recovering from the shock that Kate's nine-year-old troublemaker of a son was actually her forty-something millionaire fiancé. They were both listening to the lead detective on the homicide case Castle had been "investigating," giving them the run down.

"He's all yours, Agent Beckett." Captain Miller nodded towards the mirror.

"Thank you, Captain. Once again, I really appreciate the courtesy call."

"My pleasure. This isn't New York, though, agent. I don't care what kind of arrangement you've had in the past, you don't work for me, and I can't have crime novelists playing cop on the loose in my city."

"Yessir, I am absolutely aware of that. And trust me, this won't happen again." Beckett reassured him. She took a deep breath, then brushed past the captain and McCord to face Castle in the interrogation room.

"Kate, thank god, you're here." Rick stood up from his chair. "They've got the wrong man! You need to tell them."

"Sit down, Castle." Beckett easily slipped back into cop mode, even though she hadn't been within five miles of an interrogation room in over a month.

Rick raised his eyebrows at her. "Beckett?" She was clearly unhappy with him and tempted to treat him like the rest of the low life criminals she faced every day. It was kind of hot he had to admit. It reminded him of that little role-playing they did at her apartment, from time to time, since her bed worked better with the cuffs. Oh detective, I've been a  _very_ , very bad boy…. Focus, Rick, focus. Kate. D.C. Metro PD. Wrong guy.

"Castle, what the  _hell_  were you thinking? You can't just walk around D.C. digging into open murder cases!"

Rick reached into his back pocket and pulled out a newspaper clipping he'd torn out of this morning's paper. Kate raised her eyebrows. They obviously hadn't frisked him thoroughly when they arrested him. "They got the wrong guy," he repeated and thrust the piece of paper into her face. "Read the article. It doesn't make sense."

Kate scanned the article quickly and sighed, "There may be a few holes in the story but I'm sure Detective Miller and his team are plugging them right now."

"It makes a bad story and you know it." Rick leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms.

Kate shook her head, as if to brush his comments aside. "Plot holes in narratives are the least of your worries right now. You got arrested, Castle! And unlike New York, the mayor of D.C. is not a fan of yours."

"Don't worry, I told them I'm with you. I don't think they believed me at first but I got the captain to call you anyway."

Kate shook her head angrily, "You don't get it, Rick! I've got  _no_  pull whatsoever in this town. I'm not even a cop here, I got no friends to call in favors from. I'm a fed. Remember how we treated feebs back at the twelfth? You're lucky the captain of this station gave me a courtesy call, before they fully processed you. Do you hear me? This could've gone on your record and this time there's nobody here to make it go away! This isn't stealing a police horse buck naked, Castle. This is serious!"

"Borrowing. How many times do I have to tell you that? I  _borrowed_  that police horse because I couldn't get a cab home." He tried to lighten the mood, obviously still not quite understanding how serious his situation actually was. Well, had been, because once again he somehow managed to evade actual charges.

Kate closed her eyes and held her hands up to stop him from talking further. "I don't want to hear your excuses, Castle. I don't want any of your jokes. Do you have any idea how embarrassing it was to get a call about your arrest in front of my new boss?"

"I'm sorry, Beckett. It just so happens that the first townhouse I looked at yesterday morning was right next door to the crime scene. I noticed the police seal and the realtor explained that there had been a murder recently, which was why the price for the property had dropped so low. She figured me being a crime novelist, I might actually get a kick out of moving in next door to an actual crime scene. And then I read about the arraignment of that particular case in the paper this morning. It was fate, Kate."

Beckett nodded slowly, already familiar with what would come next. "It was like the universe was sending you a sign."

"Exactly. Especially when I read that the suspect pleaded not guilty, insisting on his innocence, and that the cops only had circumstantial evidence. So I did a little research on the internet, read every article I could find in every paper, and take this, Trevor Martins, the suspect, swears on his mother's grave that he didn't even know the victim. It gets better, Detective Squareface showed me pictures of the victim; she's been so disfigured, they can't put her picture out to the media to ask the public for help in identifying the victim. And there are no dental records, no medical records, no visible birthmarks, no nothing that could point them towards her identity. It's like the woman never existed. I'm telling you something's rotten in the District of Columbia and by that I don't mean this coffee, though that is even worse here than the monkey battery acid piss you served at the twelfth before I bought you the espresso machine."

"What do you want me to do, Castle?" Kate gave an exasperated sigh, "It's not my case, not my jurisdiction. I'm no longer a cop."

Rick slid the article from the paper back across the table. "Read it. For me. Don't just skim it through, actually read it. All of it. And then look me in the eye and tell me you believe they got the right guy."

"And then what? I'm not gonna interfere with another cop's case. I told you last time with Slaughter that's just not how it works. And I most definitely won't pull rank on Metro PD and have the AG take over the case."

The door burst open and McCord stormed inside, waving a folder. "Too late, already did. Kate, you gotta see this. You won't friggin' believe it."

"That's the file. She's got the file." Rick looked from the unfamiliar woman to his fiancée and then at the file in Rachel's hands, who slammed down the folder on the table in front of Beckett. She'd opened it to the page with the gruesome pictures of the victim Castle was already all too familiar with.

"That's her. That's the victim," He tapped the photograph with his fingers.

"Oh my god!" Kate gasped and looked at Rachel shocked, "That can't be!"

"What?" Castle asked excitedly, sensing they were nearing a break through.

"Hell yeah, I couldn't believe it at first either, when the captain showed me the file. But that's her. That's gotta be her. It's hard the way her face has been smashed in but the hair color, the height, the build it all fits." McCord spread out the photographs of the crime scene showing the victim from various angles.

"Who?" Rick practically salivated with curiosity, fixing Kate with a curious gaze. When he didn't get an answer immediately, he glanced back at McCord, "Richard Castle, mystery writer." He rose from his chair and held out his hand "And who are you?"

"Special Supervisory Agent Rachel McCord. Now sit down and behave, Castle, or I'll tell her to cuff you." Kate replied absent-mindedly, while she studied the pictures of the female victim. It was hard to be certain. Beckett picked up a picture to study it more carefully.

"I'm telling you, it's Jessica Flinn." McCord insisted, "I already informed the captain."

"That would explain why we couldn't find her, she was already dead and in the morgue when we started looking for her." Kate nodded. "Are we going to pull rank?"

"We're liaising for now. Until we catch our own new case that is. I've already asked Rookie to compile everything we've got on Jessica Flinn and share it with Captain Farramore."

Rick watched the exchange between the two women fascinated like a spectator at a tennis match. So this was the famous Rachel McCord, heel-foe extraordinaire. He kind of liked her. She reminded him a little bit of Beckett when they met. All hard facts, no nonsense attitude, she was practically ignoring his presence in the room.

"So what's our next move then?" Castle leaned forward and inserted himself back into the conversation.

" _Your_  next move is to go back to the hotel and sit tight until I get home." Kate gave him a look that didn't condone any reply.

"Actually, we're taking Mr. Castle in," McCord grinned and hopped of the desk.

"What?" Kate and Rick chorused.

Rachel McCord looked at the couple sitting on opposite sides of the desk. The boys will just  _love_  it. "Do you want to cuff him or shall I do the honors?" She asked as she reached for her handcuffs.

"What?" Castle squeaked, "Beckett?" He looked at her with puppy dog eyes. Beckett in turn was eyeing the handcuffs dangling in front of her face, trying to keep a straight face.

"You're right," McCord grinned as she shoved her cuffs back in place, "he really  _is_  such an easy mark."

Castle narrowed his eyes at Kate. Apparently she had finally told someone about them, he only wished he knew which stories she'd shared with McCord on their way to get him out of jail. He had a feeling this was going to be a long day, not at least because he'd spend the rest of it groveling to make up with Kate for getting arrested. She was really upset with him this time, and not in the cute way as she was when she first arrested him. Maybe he could get on good terms with McCord, strike up a good rapport with the guys once they got to her office. He bet he could wrap that Rookie around his little finger until he let him in on their investigation. Maybe he could help them solve the case, after all it had been him who'd cracked it wide open, maybe, just maybe Kate would forgive him then.


	14. Chapter 14

"Oh this is soooo cool," Castle smiled like a five-year old in front of a Christmas tree, as McCord handed him the visitor's badge. "Do I get to keep it?"

"No," the guard on duty shook his head, "you return it to me, when you leave the building."

"But it has my name and my picture on it," Rick protested, "who else is going to use it?"

"No one, we shred them."

"Please?" He looked from the guard to Kate, who shook her head, to McCord, who looked at him amused but with her arms crossed, then back to the guard. "Fine." He scowled.

Beckett and McCord turned on their heels and marched over to the elevator with Castle slowly trotting behind them. Kate had given him the silent treatment in the car the whole ride long, so he kept in the background the best he could. He could tell that she was anything but happy about the circumstance under which her new team would get to meet him. It irked him a little, too. He would've liked to be in a stronger position of power, when he first encountered her new colleagues so he could reprimand them for the hazing they'd put Kate through in the past few days. He had a feeling, though, that Beckett would kill him personally, if he'd brought that up now.

His heavy sigh reverberated through the quiet hall, as they waited for the elevator. The silence was starting to unnerve him.

"So you are Kate's new boss, huh?" Castle tried to make small talk.

"If you mean team leader, then yes." Rachel gave him a curt reply. "I prefer to think of my team members as equals."

"Interesting," Rick nodded. "But you're still the one who signs off on overtime and days off."

"Actually no. That would be the section chief." Rachel replied slightly confused.

"Castle!" Kate hissed and shoved her elbow into her fiancé's ribs.

McCord glanced amused at Beckett who was covering her face with her free hand. "Need to take time off to attend your own wedding or is there more house hunting on the horizon?"

Kate just rolled her eyes and cursed Castle's forwardness. She wanted to talk with Rachel first and let her request slip casually into the conversation. She had no idea how vacation requests were handled at the AG's office but she knew taking days off so early in the hire would probably be frowned upon.

"Actually," Rick piped up again, ignoring Kate's physical protest, and continued unperturbed, "we're launching the new Nikki Heat next week, so there's a small party in New York on Saturday to kick of  _Deadly Heat_."

"You don't say," McCord snorted duly unimpressed and barged into the empty elevator as soon as the doors opened.

"Anyway, I was hoping Kate could be there since she's the inspiration for Nikki Heat." Rick followed Rachel quickly inside. "I would have invited your team to come, too, but seeing as you're all scheduled to work…" he trailed off.

Beckett just groaned and stabbed the button for their floor with a little more force than necessary.

"Not my call. And the section chief isn't Beckett's biggest fan right now after the stunt she pulled a couple days ago."

"I see. That makes absolute sense." Rick replied as silence spread around them one more time. Unable to take any more of their quiet, he changed to small talk. "So what exactly do you do as a team leader and how long have you been doing this job?"

"Does he always ask so many questions?" McCord looked at Beckett sideways.

"Yep," Kate emphasized the final consonant with a loud pop.

"Just a little research. As a writer I like to get the details right."

Rachel whirled around. "If I find myself in the next Nikki Heat, it will be the last novel you've ever written. Am I making myself clear?"

"Crystal," Castle swallowed nervously, "crystal clear." He cleared his throat. She hadn't said  _Derrick Storm_. Federal agents working in DC fit much better into his spy novels anyway. Kate caught the smirk on his face and shook her head already no, knowing what he was thinking.

The elevator doors opened and McCord stepped out and strode down the cubicles. Rick moseyed silently behind Beckett and McCord who went over the case details provided by Metro PD. After an anonymous call, patrol checked Trevor Martins' apartment. They found the body of Jessica Flinn amidst drug paraphernalia and what seemed to be a very hung-over Trevor Martins. They arrested him immediately in spite of his protests that he was innocent. The last thing Martins could recall was that he had met Jessica Flinn in a bar and bought her a drink. Maybe two. After that things got a little hazy and his statement stopped making sense. He couldn't recall taking Flinn home to shoot up some coke but bits and pieces of naked flesh and writhing bodies flashing through his mind led him to admit that they did probably have sex. The DNA lab confirmed that the sperm found was a match to Martins, but the ME concluded the sex was probably consensual if a little rough. Martins insisted that he didn't know where the drugs came from, but when the detectives confronted him with an old arrest for possession of cocaine, he confessed to a previous addiction but insisted he was clean ever since he left rehab four years ago. He'd turned his life around and started a successful small business. Lab results eventually revealed that Martins had spoken the truth, he was clean for illegal substances but twice over the legal limit for intoxication, whereas Flinn had enough cocaine in her body to fly higher than a kite, twice the dose of what would have been needed for an accidental overdose.

Rick thought they were focusing too much on Trevor Martins and not enough on Jessica Flinn. Clearly, Martins lacked motive to murder Flinn. He didn't know the woman and the police shrink had not detected any homicidal tendencies. If Flinn had been on Beckett's radar, she must have had something to do with the Snowden case. And that opened doors to endless possibilities. Maybe she was onto Snowden and about to report him and he killed her before he left the country. He tried to spin one of his theories in the car on their way to the AG headquarters, but Kate had simply turned around in the front seat and fixed him with a death glare. He may have missed her  _look_  look when he'd allowed Meredith to stay at the loft a few months ago, but he was unfortunately all too familiar with her  _Shut up or I will hurt you_  glare.

He had never seen her so upset with him. When Beckett had opened the back door of the car for him, she had pushed him onto the seat a little bit too forcefully, as if she was handling a suspect. Castle found it oddly hot. The last time she'd arrested him, she'd let the uniforms handle him and he didn't get to enjoy this slightly arousing silent treatment she was giving him now. He was a bit baffled by her reaction. It wasn't like he killed anyone. He was just walking around the neighborhood of their potential new home and could he help it, if he townhouse next door kept calling his name? The broken police seal was a sign, and the fact that he didn't even have to pick the lock to get inside was like an open invitation to sniff around the crime scene.

 

0~0~0~0~0

 

"Dude!" Richmond shouted, jumping up from his chair and startling Hendricks. "Check this out!"

Matt turned his head into the direction the other man was pointing and saw Rachel and Kate return from their canvass, with a third person in tow. The two men looked at each other baffled for a second, then rounded their desks to welcome their new guest.

"Is that…?" Rookie asked McCord when she was within earshot and the three of them watched Kate pull up a chair from the empty cubicle diagonally across from their team's quarters and push Richard Castle nonchalantly into the chair, instructing him to sit still, not to touch  _anything_  and not to bother  _anyone_.

"Richard Castle. Mr. Castle is a person of interest. Apparently he has information that could help solve Jessica Flinn's murder." Rachel explained. Rookie squealed when he heard the name and Rachel and Matt shot him an annoyed glare.

"You're not going to hyperventilate…" Hendricks shook his head and Richmond pulled a face at him.

"Why is he sitting over there?" Matt's curiosity wasn't fully quenched yet.

"Because he's in a time out." Kate threw out casually, breezing by her new colleagues on her way to her desk.

"You punished him?" Hendricks looked at her amused.

"Yeah," Kate gave quick nod and sat down in her chair.

"You can do that?" Rookie looked at her in awe. It was Richard freaking Castle and she just put him into a time out like a five year old on a temper tantrum. God, he might just be in love with this woman.

"Sure," Beckett shrugged her shoulders as if it was an every day occurrence to her, ignoring the slightly agape mouths of the three people watching her curiously.

"And what did he do to deserve being disciplined?" Hendricks asked more questions.

"Forced his way into a crime scene, stole some evidence and probably incurred half a dozen of other infractions I haven't been made aware of yet." Kate rattled off what she'd learned about Rick's day at the station.

Matt whistled impressed, "My, my, someone's been a busy boy today."

"First of all, I didn't  _break_  into the apartment." Castle piped up from his chair, "The seal and lock had already been broken. Second, I didn't  _steal_  the evidence. I collected it, bagged it and tagged it properly and was on my way to the next police station, when a patrol car picked me up and kindly offered me an escort. I even wore  _gloves_." Kate raised her eyebrows surprised at the last part and Castle shrugged his shoulders sheepishly. He couldn't quite believe it himself when he found the pair of purple gloves in his back pocket. Old habits die apparently hard.

"He got  _arrested_?" Hendricks and Richmond exclaimed in unison, not fooled by Castle's spin on words.

"Yep, and guess who his only phone call was." Rachel grinned.

The men trained their eyes on Kate and chorused, "Our very own Agent Beckett."

Kate rolled her eyes and shook her head, then turned her attention to her fiancé. "And who gave you permission to talk anyway?"

"Someone is in trouble," Hendricks sing-songed.

"Yeah well, I wouldn't have to say anything, if you told the story right." Castle explained as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Kate huffed exasperatedly. Right, the story. Of course.

"You realize that at some point you have to allow him to talk so I can interview him. Unless you'd rather interrogate him yourself?" McCord smiled sweetly at Kate. Hendricks snickered and Richmond looked between his colleagues as if they just shared a secret running gag he wasn't part of.

Kate rolled her eyes and watched the boys covertly. Hendricks and Richmond were staring at Castle openly in fascination, trying to figure out what he was doing in D.C. They'd obviously heard of their unorthodox partnership back at the twelfth, otherwise they wouldn't have been hazing her the past few days, but that didn't explain why he had followed her to the nation's capital. She could practically see the wheels turning in Rookie's brain as he mentally went through the list of book signings on Castle's website, double checking he hadn't missed an opportunity to meet his favorite author before. Sooner or later they'd put two and two together and figure out Castle had followed her to DC because they were in a relationship and then Hendricks would have a field day teasing the hell out of her. Rookie might just go into cardiac arrest when he found out Richard Castle and Nikki Heat were engaged. Kate looked at McCord for help, but Rachel was clearly enjoying the situation. Surprisingly McCord hadn't spilled the beans about Rick's true identity to the men…yet… Something told Kate that Rachel was saving that little tidbit of information to hold over her head and cash in at a better moment.

"Wait a moment, did you just say the seal and lock were broken?" Hendricks walked back to his desk to check his file.

"Yes, well, the seal was torn, and technically the lock wasn't broken. But when I tried to pick it, I immediately noticed someone else had tampered with it. The door was practically open."

"There's nothing about a tampered or broken lock in the report. Either CSU missed it or someone came back, broke the seal and tampered with it." Matt double-checked the file to be sure.

"Got a little friendly competition going on with Patterson?" Rookie grinned. "Maybe he stopped by over the weekend to check out the crime scene first."

"Very funny." Castle fixed his eyes on Kate. "Isn't it obvious? Trevor Martins was set up. And whoever is behind framing Martins for Jessica Flinn's murder returned to the crime scene to remove evidence he'd left behind, before police found it."

"Speaking of evidence," McCord suddenly remembered, "what did  _you_  take from the crime scene?"

Castle suddenly grew very quiet and averted his eyes from Kate. "Mbra," he mumbled.

"Excuse me?"

Castle coughed, as he repeated the word "Mbra."

"Embra?" Beckett and Rookie chorused, exchanging confused glances.

"What on earth is an embra?" Hendricks wondered out loud, already pulling his smartphone from his back pocket, ready to google the word.

"I found a bra, okay?!"

"A bra?" Hendricks frowned.

"Yes, a women's brassiere. Are we all clear now or do I need to draw you a picture?"

"How'd you end up with the victim's  _brassiere_?" Kate looked at her fiancé amused. "She was dressed in all the crime scene photos."

Seeing his fiancée more amused than anything else, Castle breathed a sigh of relief. The last thing he wanted was irritate her further by reminding her of his philandering past.

"When I entered the room, I saw something reflect the light coming in from the window. So I went to investigate and found the bra stuffed behind the couch. I think Flinn hid it there from whoever killed her. The only reason I saw it was because it had a metallic ornament disguising the front clasp."

"Front clasp, huh?" Hendricks grinned. "Someone knows their way around  _lingerie_."

Castle suppressed a groan. He totally got it now why Kate complained about Hendricks so much. That guy was a total jackass.

"Let me get this straight, Metro PD picked you up strolling along the streets flashing the victim's bra at the public?" McCord chuckled. "Did anyone else see you? I can just see the headlines tomorrow: Mystery writer exposed as sex offender."

Kate groaned out loud and Castle shook his head quickly, "No one saw me. I didn't flash anyone. I'd barely taken ten steps outside the townhouse when the patrol car showed up. Someone had alerted them to my presence at the crime scene."

Beckett immediately caught on to the implication of his last sentence, "Someone was watching you?"

"Or the house at least." Castle nodded. "Whoever went back didn't find what they were looking for. I couldn't make any sense of it until you connected the victim to Snowden's case. That's where you know her from, right?"

Kate nodded slowly. "You think they're connected?"

Castle nodded vigorously. "It makes total sense. Jessica Flinn and Edward Snowden were both senior analysts at Booz Allen Hamilton," his voice rose a little bit at the end of his sentence, as he looked at Kate for confirmation. She gave a quick head nod, so he continued. "The first time she notices it, she does not give it too much thought. Someone made a mistake, probably confused the names and wiretapped the wrong person. Not the first time it happens and won't be the last time. She makes a mental note to mention it to her supervisor but never gets around to doing it."

Castle looked at each member of his audience, satisfied he had their undivided attention. Rookie was practically hanging on his lips, Kate tried to unsuccessfully suppress her smile and Hendricks and McCord were listening attentively to his story. Good. He lowered his voice to increase the dramatic delivery of his story, "It is only a few weeks later, she cross-references names in a data matrix with the terror watch list, when she realizes the file contains intimate details of people's lives who are actually innocent US citizens. Conflicted, she ignores what her gut is trying to tell her. Surely, there must be a reason. But she can't shake the feeling that something is wrong, she starts digging."

Castle paused for dramatic effect. "One night, while she is out with her colleagues, alcohol loosens her tongue and she mentions what she's found out. Some of her colleagues shrug their shoulders, brushing it off as old news. Jessica Flinn realizes shocked that the NSA has been spying on US citizens for years."

Castle paused and Hendricks and McCord leaned in a little bit closer. "Her eyes fall on the only person at the table who is just as shocked as she is. Edward. Dear, sweet, idealistic Edward with his baby face and innocent eyes. She can see the fire burning in them now, as the rage over what the government is doing simmers inside him. He doesn't say anything. But she understands. Weeks pass by until one day Edward and Jessica end up alone in the break room. Edward has been a busy little squirrel, digging up the nuts the NSA has stashed away and making copies of the explosive files. This is bigger than they thought. Even international politicians were illegally wiretapped. Diplomats, heads of states… He confides into Jessica his plans to go public, hands her a thumb drive full of evidence, begging her to hold on to this spare copy to continue his work, once the government silenced him. Jessica nods numbly, Edward slips her a scrap of paper with the contact information for his Wiki leaks liaison, then he makes a beeline for his work station."

Rick lowered his voice even more, forcing Rachel, Matt and Rookie to huddle closer, so they could understand him. Beckett just rolled her eyes, watching her new team fall for her fiancé's skills as a narrator. It was the guy in 8B all over again. She caught Rick's eyes, when he glanced up and shook her head with mirth. He winked at her and finished, revealing he was just having fun with her new colleagues and didn't really put too much stock into his theory. She'd missed this: his crazy theories, the twinkle in his eyes when he spun his stories to drive her insane.

"Jessica goes home that night, anxious, paranoid that someone knows what she and Edward are up to. This was the kind of information people killed for to protect, this is the kind of information people would kill for to get their hands on. And just like that Jessica has an epiphany. This is the kind of information some people would pay a lot of money for. So Jessica starts to ask around, move around questionable social circles to find a potential buyer and before she knows it, international intelligence brokers are lining up, outbidding each other. Somehow, Snowden finds out. He threatens to expose her, reports her to their supervisor. Jessica just laughs him off, knowing he can't expose her without implicating himself. She teases him, dares him to go public before she completes the deal. Edward knows he needs more time to arrange his plans to ensure his freedom. She laughs at his idealism, taunts him. If he makes the information available to everyone, why can't she make a little money making the information available to the highest bidder a little sooner?

So one night he follows her to the bar, he sees her flirting with Trevor Martins. Snowden thinks he is the buyer, so when he sees them leave the bar together he panics. He follows them back to Martins' townhouse, trying to figure out what to do. He does some research on Martins and finds out about his drug past, figures his small business is a front for whatever criminal enterprise he's currently running. He can't let Jessica get away with it. He forces his way inside, confronts the naked couple about the business deal. Martins has no idea what's going on, he denies everything, while pulling up his pants, tumbling around drunkenly – which makes Edward only more furious. He catches Jessica scrambling for the couch, putting her clothes back on. Burning with rage he demands his thumb drive back. When Jessica claims she doesn't have it on her, he attacks her. They struggle on the couch, Edward smothers her accidentally with a cushion until he realizes she is no longer fighting back. Panic seizes him. She's dead. He just killed a woman. But he can't risk being caught. His eyes fall on Martins who lies on the floor, passed out. He remembers Martins' drug past and runs out into the night, tracking down the next best drug dealer, scoring enough cocaine to kill a small elephant. He gives him an extra grand for the dealer's own syringe and then races back to the townhouse, injecting Flinn with the cocaine, making it look like an accidental overdose after a wild night gone wrong."

Castle leaned back and crossed his arms with a triumphant grin. McCord stood there still processing Rick's tale, her eyebrows furrowing as her mind started to figure out the holes in his story.

"Nice story, Castle, there's only one problem." Kate beat her to the punch. "According to the M.E.'s report Flinn's TOD was long after Snowden had already left the country."

"And didn't the M.E.'s report also say she had twice the dose required for an accidental overdose in her system?" Hendricks reached for their copy of the medical examiner's report on his desk.

"If Snowden's never done drugs before, he wouldn't know how little it takes for an actual overdose. He'd inject her with more than necessary." Rookie defended Castle's theories.

"And didn't Jessica Flinn get fired about three months ago?" McCord tore another hole into his theory.

Beckett had to suppress a grin. Unlike a few years ago, her new colleagues weren't eating out of her boyfriend's hands straight away.

"Wouldn't the ME have found fibers in her airways if she'd been smothered?" Rookie looked from Rachel to Matt, "I mean he's no idiot? I'm sure he knows the difference between suffocation and overdose."

Castle scowled and glared at Richmond,  _Et tu?_

"Face it, Castle, you're a little rusty. Your theory doesn't make sense. Why would Snowden send someone to watch you, if he's already leaked the information to the media?" Kate teased him.

"Yeah, well, I'm a little out of practice since I had to stop shadowing you." He volleyed back, unable to control the bite in his tone that let her know that he was still a little upset over the change of status quo. The other agents' ears perked up, picking up on the sudden tension between Kate and Rick.

"Is that why you took it upon yourself to investigate a murder all on your own?" Irritation crept back into her voice.

"You're mad, I get it." Castle nodded, "But what was I supposed to do? Stand by while an innocent man was convicted of a crime he didn't commit?"

"Castle, you don't even know if he's innocent! There's no exculpatory evidence, all you've got are a couple of holes in the lead detective's theory." Kate countered.

Before a full blown argument could develop between Kate and Rick, McCord stepped in, "Alright Mr. Castle, is there anything you'd like to add to you story?"

Castle shook his head, "No, that's all there is. I saw the broken lock, figured there's no harm in taking a quick look inside. I found the victim's bra, which was missed by CSU, bagged it, tagged it and gave it to Metro PD. And before you ask, no, I didn't see or hear anyone."

"Okay, write down your official statement and then sign it." McCord ordered. Beckett shoved Castle back into his chair and slammed a pad and pen in front of his face. Rick watched her settle in at her own desk with a grim face. One step forward, two steps backwards.

"Oh and Castle?" McCord called out, "Facts only. It's a statement, not fiction."


	15. Chapter 15

Out of the corner of her eye, Kate saw Richmond's chair inching ever so slowly into Castle's direction. Without looking up, she cleared her throat in warning and Rookie's movement immediately stilled. She shook her head quietly and kept her eyes trained on their victim's phone records. Rookie waited a minute or so and then his chair rolled again a little bit.

"Uh, uh, uh. What do you think you're doing?" Beckett asked without looking up from her files.

Richmond opened his mouth and pointed with his fingers vaguely in the direction of Castle.

"He can't talk. He's in a time-out, remember." Her finger moved smoothly across the phone records she was studying, tracing a phone number.

"Still?!" Rookie scrunched up his face and Kate finally looked up, her finger marking the spot.

"He's been a  _very_  bad boy. Besides he's writing, so don't distract him!" To be honest, Kate was surprised how quiet Castle had kept in the background while they worked. He was completely immersed in writing his statement. The parade of crumpled paper balls on the desk pointed to the fact that he was probably turning his statement into a short story complete with exposition, climax and dénouement. As long as it kept him busy and out of everyone's hair, she didn't mind. It spoke volumes about their relationship. Years ago he would have ignored her and just pressed on. These days she held the power of withholding sex over his head and he was much more compliable with her wishes. Or maybe he was just afraid McCord would send him home; once she found out he was finished with his statement.

"But…" Rookie protested meekly.

"Yep, and if you talk to him, I'll put you in time-out, too."

"You can't do…" Rookie raised his eyebrows, as a mischievous grin spread on his face. Time-out with Richard freaking Castle sounded more like fun than punishment.

As if she could read his mind, Beckett deadpanned, "In the opposite corner."

Rookie opened his mouth in protest but closed it again and slumped defeated in his chair. How was this even fair? She was the new kid on the block and still he was the lowest man on the totem pole? Technically he had seniority over her, so he should be giving  _her_  orders. If only she wasn't so incredibly  _hot_  being in charge. Part of him wanted to defy her and walk over to Castle, just so she'd  _have_  to put him into the opposite corner. He couldn't wait to get the writer alone and grill him for more details on Kate Beckett, Nikki Heat, whatever.

"And just  _where_  do  _you_  think you're going?" Kate whipped her head around and fixed Castle with a menacing glare.

"Uhhh…" he grinned sheepishly, "just getting some coffee." He pointed with his thumb over his shoulder. "To help with the writing, you know."

Kate pursed her lips and then indicated the direction of the coffee maker with a nod of her head. "Don't get a heart attack, it's an old filter machine."

"I thought this job was supposed to be a step  _up_  from the twelfth…" Castle mumbled, as he began to mosey over to the snack bar in the back corner of the room.

"There's a coffee cart downstairs. I'll show you." Rookie jumped up from his chair eagerly. Castle lifted his eyebrows and exchanged an amused glance with Kate, when Richmond gave her a defiant look. Kate just shook her head in amusement, watching the men's backs disappear around a corner, animatedly talking to each other.

"So Beckett tells me you're a really big Nikki Heat fan." Castle prompted Rookie who'd been staring at him star struck for most of their elevator ride.

"She talked to you about me?" Rookie gushed. Castle could practically see the young man's heart fluttering in his chest. If he wasn't sure that Rookie's crush on Kate was harmless, he'd be inclined to put the kid into place. "What'd she say?"

"Oh well, you know, the usual. How much you like the books. Said you're the real life Raley." Castle grinned.

"She did?" Rookie squeaked and got a dreamy look on his face. "She's fantastic isn't she? I mean obviously you know because you've shadowed her for so many years. I still can't believe I actually get to work with Nikki Heat."

"You know that Beckett's not Nikki, right?" Castle interjected, as they joined the line at the coffee cart.

"Oh well of course, but there's so much of Kate Beckett built into Nikki Heat. I can just tell from a few days working with her. That spunk, that fierce passion for her work… You know there's an online fact check race, where people link the case details from the books with real cases you've worked."

"Seriously?" Castle looked at him excitedly.

"It's really fun. Most people are combing through newspaper archives, but some of us are in law enforcement, so we can access case files. We never post confidential case information, we just use the case files for evidence and then try to find an online article that mentions it."

Castle grinned, "Well, now you can just ask Beckett or me for confirmation and beat everyone to the punch."

"Nah, that would be cheating. We're really strict about that. There's an honor code. Like right now, we're discussing the poisoned cup of coffee from the chapter one teaser of  _Deadly Heat_ , which we all loved by the way. What a great way to start the book. Anyway, Nookie4Ever claims that this is based on an old case from two years ago, where a member of a jury was poisoned with a cup of coffee at the courthouse. But then Hot4Heat, who's a retired sheriff from Cali posted that the Ledger article got it all wrong. He pulled the autopsy report and it put the TOD way before the victim arrived at the courthouse. So now there's this heated discussion going on whether it counts if it was only a red herring in a real case."

"Oh my god! Seriously, how did I not know about this?"

Rookie nodded emphatically, "Right? Meanwhile I'm pretty certain that it has nothing to do with that jury case. It happened to Beckett, right? It's the reason she insists on making her own coffee, even if it means the slush from the old filter machine. Someone tried to poison her with a cup of coffee. That's why she won't accept coffee from anyone else."

"Is she now?" Rick felt his heart flutter a little inside his chest. Coffee was their thing. Refusing a cup of coffee from someone other than him was quite possibly the sweetest gesture of love and faithfulness he'd ever witnessed.

"Yes. At first I thought I got her order wrong, you know grande skim latte, two pumps sugar-free vanilla like Nikki, but then Matt offered her a tall hazelnut mocha with three pumps – you know just like Feller in  _Frozen Heat_  but she didn't even touch it. Said thanks but just let it grow cold. And anyway, I'm pretty sure I heard her say grande skim latte, when we grabbed coffee here on our way back from HR on her first day, so I tried it again. Every single time, she'd say thanks but let the coffee go cold just as well, then she'd toss it and just get that shit from the filter machine. So we gave up. I mean who does that? So I'm pretty sure she's monitoring where her coffee comes from because someone tried to poison her that way. I mean that makes sense, right? I just can't prove it yet. I've cross-referenced articles in the Ledger and NYPD database but so far I've come up empty. Either the records haven't been processed yet or it's all hush-hush, which would make sense, considering the previous attempt on her life. Maybe the killer came back to finish the job."

"He did but he didn't succeed. About a year ago he went after Kate again."

"Right! Duh!" Rookie slapped his forehead. "The case that got her suspended!"

Castle frowned, suddenly growing concerned. "There's a fine line between stalking and fanboying, Rookie."

"We're not stalking her!" Richmond looked up startled by the warning tone Rick's voice held. "We're not doing anything wrong. We're just trying to help! Beckett's case and the JB stabbing are off limits on the boards, of course. Besides everyone thinks Dick Coonan killed JB, which is public record now, and only a handful of us, who are in law enforcement, know that Beckett's shooting is connected to her mom's case. We're right, aren't we? We connected all the dots and it's the only logical answer. We just haven't figured out how exactly. We sometimes go over the case details to look for anything that's been missed."

"You what?!" Castle's eyes widened in panic and pulled Rookie aside. Oh god, what had he done?! This was so much worse than he ever could have imagined when he began shadowing Beckett. He'd opened Pandora's box!

"Hey! What are you doing? I was next in line!" Richmond protested.

"You need to stop. Immediately. Tell your friends, too."

"What? We're just trying to help. We never discuss details online, I run a secure chat room, it's virtually untraceable, and only people with a law enforcement pedigree can join. I personally run the background checks."

"You don't understand. These people are dangerous. If he finds out, the deal's off."

"What? Who? What deal? Wait a moment, he? You know who's behind this?"

Castle cursed himself inwardly. He'd already said too much. Piquing Rookie's interest was not going to help matters, either. "I'm serious, Richmond. I've already said too much. Kate's going to kill me. And you, when she finds out you've been looking into her and her mom's case behind her back. Not necessarily in that order."

"If you know who's behind all this, why don't you go after him?"

"Because he is a very powerful man and we've established a very precarious entente."

"I don't understand. Doesn't Beckett want justice for herself? For her mom?"

"Of course," Castle gave a mirthless chuckle, "but she wants her family and friends to be safe more. The man behind everything is so powerful that even from behind bars he might come after Kate. So she struck a deal with the devil. She won't say anything, if he stops threatening her. But the minute he comes after someone she cares about, she's going to throw the book at him."

"And that works?" Rookie looked at the writer incredulously.

"For now. Until we've got an iron-clad case against him, it will have to do anyway. Like I said, this man is in a very powerful position that allows him to make evidence disappear and witnesses drop off the face of the earth. So you have to promise me, you won't investigate Beckett's shooting or her mother's murder any further."

"But…"

"No buts, Rookie. He'll kill you. And all your friends. You have to drop both cases stat. I'm not joking. Kate would never forgive herself if you and her new team got sucked into this mess and one of you paid with your life."

"Okay." Rookie frowned and stared at the floor.

Rick felt as if he was addressing Alexis when she was four years old and openly defying him to assert her own personality for the first time. "Rookie, look at me. Promise you won't touch either case anymore."

Rookie sighed and squared Castle's eyes. "Promise."

"Thank you." Rick clasped the younger man's shoulders, shoving him back into line for the coffee cart. The gentleman right behind them opened his mouth in protest but Castle shot him an evil glare. "Sorry. We were here first but my friend needed a little more time to decide. Now, Richmond, tell the nice lady behind the cart what you want. My treat. In fact," Castle flashed the women his best killer smile, as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his money clip, "this entire round is on me." He glanced at the line behind him, five other people, and counted six twenty dollar bills before placing them on the counter. That should cover everyone else's orders, and the appreciative nods and murmur indicated that the upset about them jumping the line was dissolving quickly. "The rest is for you." He addressed the coffee vendor.

"And what can I get you, hon?" The woman flirted back at him.

"One regular," Castle looked at Rookie who held up his hand, "Make that two. And a grande skim latte with two pumps vanilla. Sugar-free." He winked at Richmond who grinned.

"Feeling lucky, huh?"

"She  _always_  takes my coffee, Rookie. I've worked very hard to earn that privilege over the last few years."

"Two regulars and a grande vanilla latte." The vendor placed the cups in front of them. Richmond grabbed his and sweetened it, while Castle fixed the lids on his cups. Once Richmond got rid of his trash, they casually walked back to the elevators.

"She must really trust you if she'll let you bring coffee." Rookie pondered, while they waited.

Castle sighed, it was time to put an end to Richmond's speculations. "I made it up."

"What?" The younger man frowned confused.

"The coffee cup poisoning." Castle shrugged his shoulder nonchalantly before he stepped into the empty elevator as soon as the doors opened.

"What do you mean?" Rookie gaped.

"Nobody's ever tried to poison Beckett with a cup of coffee. Not since I joined the twelfth anyway. I even bought a new cappuccino machine for the homicide squad to replace that dreadful stuff their old coffee maker used to spit out." Rick visibly shuddered. "Like monkey pee in battery acid. Horrible I tell ya!"

"But if she… why… I don't understand!" Rookie exclaimed as Castle pulled the boy into the elevator cart, tired of pressing the hold button and waiting for Richmond to enter on his own account. "Why won't she take my coffee if she doesn't fear for her life?" He looked at the writer crestfallen.

"Don't take it personal. Kate's very nit-picky when it comes to coffee." Rick explained. "Let me tell you something, Rookie. Kate Beckett is a very complicated woman."

"You seem to have her figured out." Richmond pouted, "Apparently she lets  _you_  bring her coffee."

Castle chuckled, "And it took me a long time to wear her down to accept it."

"What's your secret?"

Rick shrugged his shoulders, "Keep showing up every day."

"But I do." Rookie sighed, "She just doesn't notice me. She's just so awesome you know? I thought Nikki Heat was brilliant but Beckett… she's just something else." Rookie leaned in conspiratorially and whispered, "Don't tell her but I think I've got a little crush on her."

Castle laughed out loud, "You  _think_?"

Richmond pulled a face, "That obvious?"

Castle nodded amused.

"It's ridiculous, I know. She's probably got this really hot hunk back in New York. I mean the ring says it all, right? Probably some big shot lawyer she'd never consider leaving for me." Rookie sighed. "You must know her pretty well. Is she serious about the guy?"

Castle took a deep breath. He felt sorry for the kid. He knew what it was like to fall in love with someone way out of your league. Hell, he wooed Kate Beckett for years, before she really noticed him. Some days he still pinched himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming. He wanted to tell Rookie the truth about him and Kate, but he also knew that Beckett was already upset enough as it is, with McCord finding out about them when they picked him up at the station. So he replied diplomatically, "Very serious. They're engaged."

Rookie nodded and stepped off the elevator, "Figures… that's one lucky bastard who gets to marry her."

Rick watched Rookie stride down the row of cubicles and muttered under his breath, "And don't I know it."

0~0~0~0~0

Richmond sat down behind his desk and checked his screen to see if the search had spit out any results yet. Nada. He glanced over to Beckett's desk where Castle was leisurely approaching her from behind. As if by magic, Kate's hand reached out for her cup of coffee the minute Castle extended his arm. She looked up from her screen and smiled a thanks at him. Castle beamed with a boyish grin and pulled up a rolling chair.

"Doesn't mean you're forgiven." She mumbled into her cup before she took a sip. "I'm still pissed."

"I know." Castle whispered.

Richmond, Hendricks and McCord watched their exchange with a smile, exchanging secret glances. Rachel remembered the crestfallen look on Rookie's face, when Beckett ignored his coffee delivery the first time. She thought he was going to cry. And now Richard Castle showed up out of nowhere, coffee in hand, and Kate Beckett reached for it as if it were second nature.

Kate took a sip from her coffee and hummed satisfied. Damn, even the coffee tasted better when he delivered it. If they were alone, or at least back in the break room at the twelfth, he'd make a corny remark about how he added his secret ingredient: love. She stole a quick glance at Rick who pursed his lips, unsuccessfully hiding his smile. Seeing his face, she had to bite her lip to suppress her own grin. Before she could get carried away, she cleared her throat and noticed her colleagues who were observing her with interest.

"What?!" Kate barked.

"Nothing!" The trio of fed agents chorused and pretended to be busy with work.

The awkward moment was interrupted when section chief Granger stuck his head out of his office door, demanding an update from McCord because he had Captain Farramore on the phone.

"Well, you heard the guy!" McCord slammed her hand flat on the desk and pushed herself out of the chair. "What have we got?"

"Nothing." Kate and Matt chorused.

Rachel turned to Richmond who shrugged his shoulders, "Still waiting for results."

"Okay." McCord sighed. "So let's assume Trevor Martins says the truth. He didn't know the victim before they met in the bar – anything that suggests erratic behavior? Any irregularities that would explain why he might have snapped and killed Flinn?"

"Nothing in his bank records. His business was doing fine, considering the economy, he makes regular payments on his mortgage," Hendricks shook his head. "No irregular activities on his personal bank account, either, that would suggest a drug habit."

"The last time he used his credit card was at the bar. I checked for ATM withdrawals but he didn't make any that night."

"So where did he get the cash for the drugs?" Kate wondered out loud.

"No idea. He's only made small cash withdrawals in the days before." Matt explained.

"Maybe someone owed him money and paid in cash," McCord reasoned. "Alright, Beckett, what have we got on the victim."

"Still waiting for official confirmation from Metro PD that the Jane Doe is Jessica Flinn. We have to wait for DNA results because, get this, the finger print analysis was inconclusive."

"How can a fingerprint comparison be inconclusive? They either match or they don't!" Castle blurted out and four pairs of eyes turned to him.

"Whoever killed her, disfigured her fingers to make positive ID on her harder." Kate explained. She checked her screen and continued, "Says here the killer probably cauterized her finger pads using some kind of acid – more details to come once the lab results are in. Whatever substance caused the burns it was none of the usual suspects."

"Okay, Trevor Martins had the presence of mind to burn the victim's finger pads to make positive ID impossible while he blew twice the legal limit the next morning when police picked him up? Does that sound fishy to anyone else?" McCord wondered out loud.

"I told you Metro PD's story makes no sense." Rick interjected.

"So we've noted," Rachel continued, "Let's assume Mr. Castle is right. Let's say Trevor Martins was just a patsy and someone else killed Jessica Flinn. Who would have motive? And why would they kill her."

"CIA hit." Castle blurted out.

"Don't listen to him. It's always either CIA conspiracy or a mob hit with him." Kate sighed into her cup of coffee before taking another gulp.

"And one of these days I'm going to be right." Castle protested.

"I don't know how NYPD handled things, Mr. Castle," Rachel spoke up, "but here at the AG we're dealing with reality and not fiction." She turned back to Hendricks and Richmond. "You keep doing what you're doing. If she scraped her knee during recess in second grade, I wanna know. Matt, talk to her friends again, see if anyone remembers anything that could point us to someone with motive. Rookie, do your magic. I want her financial and phone records on my desk in an hour. Tops."

"What about me?" Castle piped up, eager to help.

"You done with your statement?" McCord mustered Rick, who shook his head slowly, "No? Well, there's your answer."

He really, really disliked the feds.

0~0~0~0~0

"This is useless. It's as if the woman didn't really exist." Rookie threw his pen on the desk frustrated.

"Can't really establish a connection to Martins, either." Matt sighed.

"Nothing popping up on either one's phone records and bank statements, either. Except for this wire transfer. Can you see if you can trace it back to its origins for me? This company has all the markings of being a front for something else." Rookie nodded and Kate let out a huff. "I need a break." She pushed back her chair and dropped the folder on Richmond's desk on her way to the restrooms. Castle automatically looked up from his writing and followed his fiancée's retreating figure. Once she was out of sight, he straightened up and caught Hendricks openly leering at Kate's ass.

"What?" Matt shrugged his shoulders. "Just enjoying the view. Don't tell me you haven't."

Castle scowled and sent the other man a dirty glare.

"Yeah, Castle, it's just us boys now." Rookie joined the friendly ribbing. "You can tell us. Did you and Beckett ever…"

"What?" Rick's voice skipped an octave. "Why? What makes you think that?"

"Tequila scene." Rookie and Matt chorused, leaning back in their chairs with their arms crossed.

"Tsss…." Castle threw up his hands, "Pure fiction. I completely made it up." At least that wasn't a lie. They hadn't even been sleeping together back then.

"Geeze, man, don't tell me you've been working with her for  _years_  and never got to tap that ass." Hendricks groaned out loud. "You're a disgrace for the entire male species."

"Hey now!" Rick protested, "Unlike you I happen to respect women."

"Page Six of the New York Ledger says otherwise." Matt grinned smugly and leaned over his desk.

Castle almost objected that he was a changed man and no longer chased after women at parties and book signings. But that would prompt further questioning on why and who tamed him so he shut his mouth again quickly. He conceded, "Fine. Touché. You got me. I've got the reputation of a womanizer but I respect  _Detective_  Beckett way too much to turn her into a notch on my bedpost."

"Well, she's  _Agent_  Beckett now. And since you didn't call dibs on her, you won't mind if I give it a try." Hendricks now challenged Castle openly, since the previous goading didn't work.

"She's  _engaged_." Castle said rolling his chair over to the other agent's desk.

"She  _not married_." Matt countered. He looked around, "I don't see her secret fiancé around here staking his claim or do you?"

"What the hell is going on here?" McCord stepped in between the two men.

"Nothing." All three chorused feigning to be innocent school boys caught when their hands were still stuck in the cookie jar.

"Why don't I believe that? Come on spit it out."

"I was just explaining to your colleagues the finer points of sexual harassment at the work place." Castle explained, never taking his eyes off of Hendricks. If looks could kill, the other man would drop dead. If Kate wouldn't file a complaint, Rick would do it for her. This was simply going too far.

"Seriously, Matt? Are you still at it?" McCord grumbled. "Are you gunning for a lawsuit? I thought you were done after reading the Tequila scene. That was really pushing it we agreed."

"Yeah, about that. I've been wondering how  _exactly_  does one make a  _project_  out of a blouse?" Hendricks piped up with a cheeky grin, which quickly drooped when Castle glared at him.

"You think you're being original? You think you're the first one to give her a hard time about Nikki Heat? I get that she's the low man on the totem pole but there's good-natured hazing and then there's just down right frat boy misogyny. Whatever made you think that it's a good idea to read out loud the tequila scene from my novel and imply that the sex scene was about a member of your team in front of all of her new colleagues to hear? You want to make fun of Nikki Heat? Fine, have a go at me but leave Beckett out of it."

"Sorry man, that may have been a bit over the top." Hendricks surprised Castle with an apology. Why would that jackass even care, Rick wondered, as he studied Matthew's face.

"It's Beckett you owe an apology not me." Rick finally replied.

"Something tells me she'll kick my ass if I bring it up again." Matt showed a self-deprecating grin. "Beckett doesn't strike me as the person to dwell on juvenile pranks and hold grudges." Matt rocked his chair back and forth, "For what it's worth, it was stupid and I'm sorry. Won't be happening again." That's when Castle realized Hendricks knew. God knows how he found out but he'd been hounding him the whole time to get a rise out of him, to trip him up and make him admit he was Beckett's secret fiancé. This was Hendricks officially backing off and conceding the battle to Castle. The look on Matt's face told him that he respected their engagement and didn't want any bad blood between them.

Castle grinned, "Don't worry, she gives as good as she gets."

"Huh?" Hendricks sat up straight. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Let me tell you one thing I've learned about Kate Beckett in all the years I've worked with her. I don't like being on the receiving end of her pranks."

"Beckett pranked you?" Rookie grinned excitedly.

Castle nodded and showed off, "Mind you, I pulled many a prank on her, too."

"What did she do?" Curiosity had gotten the better of McCord now, too, as she rolled her chair over to Castle.

Rick grinned, "There was this one case where she pulled so many pranks on me she had me convinced I was cursed by a mummy."

"Oh come on, Castle, details." Rachel prodded him with a soft poke. So Castle told them about the case at the New York History Museum.

0~0~0~0~0

When Beckett returned from the restroom, she didn't believe her eyes. There in his time-out was Castle surrounded by her new team, laughing and joking around. As she walked closer, she gathered bits and pieces of what he was saying and realized he was regaling her new colleagues with one of their more memorable adventures.

She slowed down her pace to watch Castle interacting with her co-workers a little longer. It looked like he was making fast friends, which only made her even more aware of how much he must be missing the interaction with the boys at the precinct.

"Genius the museum director was not." She overheard Castle tell, "Once I pointed out the PR nightmare surrounding the possibility of lawsuits and liability issues, he made a beeline for the phone." She heard him laugh. Oh, so he was talking about the mummy case. How much she'd missed the sound of his laughter at work these past few days. Kate heaved a deep sigh.

"Seeing me cut my finger on a piece of paper must have given Beckett the idea to convince me I was cursed by the mummy. So later in the day, she fixed my chair to collapse under my weight when I sat down."

"Ouch. That is mean." Rookie chuckled.

"And that was only the beginning. The next day she had the bomb squad rig the espresso machine so, when I tried to make us coffee, it exploded right in my face!"

"Whoa! No way!" Hendricks exclaimed. Castle nodded vigorously.

"I'm telling you, she's a mean prankster. To this day I have no idea how she did it but she even messed with the elevator! For a minute there I thought the cabin was going to drop and I was going to die."

"I proudly claim the chair and espresso machine, but I had  _nothing_  to do with the elevator." Beckett announced her presence and four heads turned to look at her.

"Yeah, right, just like you had nothing to do with the dog attacking me."

"She sicked the dogs on you? That's just wicked, Beckett!" Hendricks looked at her with renewed respect.

"Explain to me how on earth I could have known there'd be a hungry German shepherd on the other side of the door." Beckett crossed her arms defensively.

"You tell me, after all it was  _your_  lead. You probably faked the call and arranged for the attack dog to be waiting inside to nibble on my cute ass." He turned to Hendricks and Richmond, "I had to climb on the roof of her cruiser to seek shelter, and he still almost got to me."

"Technically he was a she. That German shepherd  _could_  jump really high." Beckett reminisced with a grin.

McCord leaned slightly over to blatantly check out Castle, "Oh yeah, that's one fine ass you got there, writer boy. No wonder the dog was salivating all over you." Hendricks and Rookie laughed out loud at Rachel's joke.

"Hey now, who's doing the sexual harassing?" Hendricks teased McCord.

"Writer man," Castle corrected her and then shot Kate a knowing look, "Been telling stories about me, huh?"

"Actually her exact words were nine-year-old on a sugar rush." Rachel grinned and Kate blushed. Her mind kept replaying Castle walking in front of her with his torn jeans flashing glimpses of his boxers on a loop.

Not wanting to embarrass his fiancée in front of her new co-worker, Castle changed the topic. "I can't believe you would mess with the elevator after the dog attack. You scared me to death."

"I told you back then, I'm not that cruel. Messing with your chair and the espresso machine was fun. Crashing the elevator or sicking the dog on you is not. End of story." She looked at Rachel conspiratorially, "I was just about to enter the elevator myself, when the doors opened and revealed Castle hugging the floor."

"I thought it was going to crash and I was trying to remember whether it's safer to lie on the floor or jump when the elevator falls." Rick defended himself, which didn't do him any good, as the other's laughter only increased.

"So who killed your Mayan Indiana Jones?" Hendricks wanted to know.

"The museum curator," Castle and Beckett said at the same time.

McCord cocked her head, scrutinizing Kate and Rick for a moment, before ordering everyone back to work, "Okay, everybody. Let's set up shop at the smart board and compare notes."

0~0~0~0~0

"Okay, guys, why don't we call it a day? There's nothing we can do while we wait for results."

"Cool. You need a ride to the bar?" Hendricks looked at Castle.

"Sure, thanks."

"Wait. What bar?" Kate looked confused between the two men.

"Oh, Castle invited us to dinner." McCord grinned, while she stuffed her belongings into her purse.

"Oh did he now?" Kate narrowed her eyes at Rick.

"It came up while you were in the restroom," Castle shrugged his shoulders innocently.

"Of course it did." Kate rolled her eyes.

"You can come too, unless you've got a hot date with your fiancé." Rick smiled at her sweetly.

Kate just pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes at him.

"Yeah, Beckett. Join us." Rookie nodded. "You're always giving us excuses when we invite you out for a beer after work."

"Fine." Kate rolled her eyes, "I hope you know a good bar cause Castle's standards are pretty high."

"What? You think your New York cop bars are better than ours?"

"Nope, but Castle owns a bar and it's quite legendary."

"Seriously, dude?" Hendricks shoved his elbow in Castle's side. "When were you going to tell us?"

"That means we'll get free beer next time we're in the big apple, right?" Rookie said.

"First of all," Rick put his arm around Richmond's shoulder, "stop calling it the big apple…"

0~0~0~0~0

The evening turned out to be a lot of fun. The bar Hendricks and McCord had recommended served great food and European beer on tap. There was a Premiere League soccer game capturing the attention of most patrons on a large flat screen in the front of the bar, so they retreated to a corner booth in the quieter back. Rick slid all the way through to the corner seat, flanked by Beckett and McCord on either side. It had not gone unnoticed by the others how casually Kate had slipped into the booth after Castle automatically scooting up to him – a little closer than necessary. Rookie's smile fell a little, when he saw the comfortable familiarity between Kate and Rick. Hendricks just cocked his eyebrows at Rachel and smiled knowingly. They munched on some tater tots and onion rings they'd ordered as appetizers, while Castle regaled Kate's new colleagues with more stories from their days in New York.

"So we chase the suspect through the steam punk club, he almost makes it, but when he opens the door he crashes straight into 'sposito." Castle shakes his head laughing.

"For real?" McCord cuckled.

"Yep, that's exactly how it happened." Kate nodded. "He totally pranked us afterwards, showing up in a wheel chair in addition to his neck brace. Castle and I thought for a minute he might be paralyzed or something but then he jumped up like a Jack in the box. Scared the living daylights out of our little girl here." Beckett patted Castle's arm.

"Did not."

"Did too." Kate leaned over the table. "Castle here screams like a little girl. Fact."

"You would, too, if a dead body fell on you." Rick defended himself.

"How did that even happen?"

"Someone had a skeleton in their closet." Kate grinned, leaning back again. Without thinking, she stole a fry from Castle's plate, and added, "Literally."

"Rookie will have to forgive me, but I don't know yet. How'd you guys actually meet? Did Castle just show up one day begging for a ride-along?" McCord asked.

"She arrested me."/"He offered to sign my breasts." They said simultaneously. The others raised their eyebrows surprised by their answers.

"I did not!" Kate and Rick chorused.

"I didn't arrest you. I just had a few questions for you. You on the other hand had been signing women's chests all evening. Don't even try denying it."

Castle leaned forward over the table, "All I did was ask her where she'd like my autograph."

"Yeah, and the location was implied." Kate rolled her eyes. "Anyways, a body had just dropped and the crime scene was staged just like one in Castle's novels, so I figured we'd better bring him in for some questioning."

McCord nodded in agreement.

"Wait a moment. For you to recognize the crime scene, you must have read Castle's books…" Hendricks put two and two together, "Oh my god, you're a fan girl!"

"Am not!" Kate shot back.

"So is," Castle grinned cheekily, which earned him a kick in the shins. He winced and mouthed, "Total superfan."

"Me thinks the lady doth protest too much," McCord chuckled.

"So I like to read murder mysteries." Kate shrugged her shoulders, and then directed her last words to Rick, "Bite me." His eyes darkened for a second as he imagined doing just that.

Then Castle turned back to McCord and deadpanned, "Not that it stopped her from arresting me for real a few days later."

"You stole evidence!" Kate reminded him.

"You left it right there on your desk where I could pinch the file." Rick shrugged his shoulders.

"Oh you mean like the door at today's crime scene was left wide open?"

"Exactly."

"Speaking of which," Rookie held up his cell phone. "I just got a hit on my search. Remember the shell company you gave me?"

Kate nodded.

"I traced it back to a Swiss bank account. They daisy chained their transfer through a couple of international banks. So I wrote an algorithm to see if any of the other transfers have the same pattern."

"And?" McCord looked at him expectantly.

"Nothing. But I thought if I were smart, I'd change up the order, so I adjusted the formula and extended the search a little further back and jackpot. Until about a year ago Jessica Flinn received regular payments that can all eventually be traced to the same Swiss bank account."

"Do we know whom it belongs to?" Castle leaned over the table, trying to peek at Rookie's blackberry.

"One Vladimir Lensky, who doesn't appear to exist."

"Of course not," Castle and Beckett replied together.

"Huh?" Matt's curiosity was officially piqued.

"It's a fictional character," Castle started to explain and Beckett took over, "from Pushkin's Yevgéniy Onégin."

"So it's an alias," Matt concluded, "but for whom?"

"Russian oligarch?" Rookie shrugged his shoulders.

"Does Jessica Flinn have any connections to Russia? Parents? Family? Semester abroad?" McCord mused.

"Not really." Beckett shook her head. They all sat hunched over Rookie's cell, staring at it, as if it would reveal the answer any second now.

"What…." Castle had an idea, "what if Jessica Flinn isn't Jessica Flinn." He leaned back with a smug grin.

"The finger burns!" Kate exclaimed and turned back to face him.

"That explains why they didn't want anyone to be able to identify her body." Rick reasoned, "What if she was a spy after all and the Russians planted her at Booz-Allen Hamilton to gather intelligence."

"That would explain why we can't find anything about Jessica Flinn."

"It's a cover."

"But why Booz-Allen Hamilton? " Kate frowned.

"Maybe they knew what the NSA has been doing all along." Rick leaned forward.

"Maybe she wasn't a government agent, maybe she was in corporate espionage!" Kate locked eyes with Rick.

"Who knows what kinds of information they've collected over the years." Rick nodded.

"Maybe she even fed a computer worm into their system to suck the data she needed from the companies her handler planned a hostile takeover?" Rookie supplied helpfully.

"Yeah!" Castle nodded, "Now why kill Jessica Flinn  _now_. What's changed?"

"Snowden!" Castle and Beckett exclaimed simultaneously.

"They were afraid she might be exposed." Castle argued.

"They couldn't risk an international incident, so it was easier to have her killed!" Beckett nodded.

"Someone who can plant a spy at an NSA affiliate probably has contacts everywhere."

"So they knew someone was going to blow the whistle."

"But why wait so long? Jessica was fired long before the leak. She'd served her purpose."

"Maybe they initially planned to extract her?"

Kate bit her lips, not really buying it. Rachel, Matt and Rookie watched the back and forth between their new colleague and the writer with fascination.

"This is getting creepy," Hendricks leaned over the table and whispered to his colleagues.

"How long do you think they've had to practice that?" McCord grinned.

"It's like they have on mind!" Rookie agreed.

"Am I the only one who feels like he's watching foreplay?"

"What do you mean?" Rookie looked at Matt for clarification.

"Oh come on, Rookie, you must have figured it out by now!" Matt groaned.

"What?"

"Seriously? I thought you knew. Why'd you join me goading Castle this afternoon if you didn't know?" Hendricks looked at the younger man in disbelief.

"That secret fiancé Beckett's hiding in New York?" Rachel helped out.

"Yeah?" Rookie looked at McCord expectantly.

"He's sitting right across from you."

"What?" Richmond squeaked, "Castle?!"

He watched the couple who was still deeply engaged in building theory, their company at the table obviously forgotten.

"Nikki and Rook are together?" Rookie couldn't contain his shipper excitement. "In real life?"

"Geeze, Rookie, some agent you are! All the evidence is right in front of you!" Hendricks shook his head.

"Look at how close together they're sitting." McCord nodded at them.

"Beckett's been stealing fries off Castle's plate the whole time. Makes you wonder why she ordered hers with a side of salad." Hendricks rolled his eyes.

"And Castle ordered for her while she was making that phone call without ever checking with her." Rachel added.

"And if that's not enough, the looks they've been exchanging the last five minutes make  _me_  feel dirty. Fifty bucks says they'll fling some excuse at us any second now to get out of here and get it _on_  in their hotel room." Matt grinned.

"I told him I have a crush on her!" Rookie whispered horrified. "He's gonna kill me."

"No, he won't. He didn't even come after me for talking shit about Kate this afternoon. He's a cool guy," Hendricks calmed Richmond down. "He knows we're messing with him cause we like him."

"I wasn't messing with him! I was trying to get him to put in a good word for me with Beckett." Rookie countered chagrined.

"Look at them," Rachel smirked, "you never stood a chance."

The three of them watched the couple, grinning. Beckett and Castle noticed them staring and turned to face away from each other and address the group.

"What?" Kate asked.

Rookie, Hendricks and McCord just chuckled. "Nothing."

Beckett scratched her head and glanced at Rick. "Okay, listen guys," she started and reached for Castle's hand.

"It's okay, we won't say anything." McCord smiled. "Your secret's safe with us."

"Provided we get an invitation to the wedding." Rookie stipulated.

"And free beer at your bar for as long as we live." Hendricks added.

Castle laughed out loud, "Blackmail. And such a united front! I'm impressed, agents. Sadly it won't work. We're not keeping it a secret for much longer. The cat will be out of the beg come Saturday."

"I see," Rachel grinned knowingly at Kate, "I guess we'll have to give you the weekend off after all."

"What? Why?" Matt wondered, "What do you know that we don't?"

"Mister Castle here kindly requested that I allow him to whisk Beckett off to New York for the weekend, so she could attend the book launch party for  _Deadly Heat_ , is it?" Rookie nodded and Rachel continued, "Of course, then I explained to Mister Castle that I don't sign off on vacation time but seeing as they're planning to announce their engagement at the party, I'll have to put in a good word with the section chief."

"Does Granger know about Castle?" Hendricks asked.

"He does actually. With such a high profile relationship, I felt it was better to be upfront about it." Kate explained

"Then why didn't you tell us?"

"Are you kidding me? I'd barely gotten one foot in the door and you'd already started the Nikki Heat hazing."

"You should've told us. We wouldn't have done it if we'd known you were together." Rookie shook his head embarrassed. Kate shot Hendricks a dirty look.

Matt held up his hands, laughing, "You're right. I totally would've done it anyway. I've actually had my suspicions since you called your fiancé in the car and I saw Castle's mug on the screen."

"Hello? Privacy?" Kate rolled her eyes.

"It was dark in the car. The screen lit up. Not my fault!" Hendricks defended himself.

"I knew it. You were totally trying to break me this afternoon." Castle pointed his finger at Matt, "You can be a real jackass."

"Takes one to know one," Hendricks volleyed back.

"What's he talking about?"

"Nohing," the men chorused innocently.

Castle mouthed later to Kate, before he addressed McCord, "Meanwhile, can you stop calling me Mister Castle, please? It's either Rick or Castle. Though I kinda dig the latter cause it sounds like I'm one of the guys in cop speak."

"Nice try,  _Rick_ ," McCord grinned, "you're not shadowing Beckett on my team.  _Meanwhile_ , did you finish and sign your statement?"

"She's a worse slave driver than you are when it comes to paper work," Castle groused, nudging Kate softly. "Yes, I did. And you'll find it very entertaining."

"You wrote a full short story, didn't you?" Kate laughed.

"Of course, exposition, climax, and denouement! With fully fleshed out characters." Castle smiled proudly.

"Let me guess, you're the fearless heroic protagonist." McCord chuckled.

"Exactly, and Beckett is the pretty dea ex machina who saved me."

"Okay, we're done here." Beckett groaned, "You've had officially too much to drink tonight." She signaled the waitress for the check. " _Meanwhile_ … Can we focus just one more time on our case? What are we gonna do about Jessica Flinn?"

"I'm gonna update Granger tomorrow morning and see if he wants s to take over now in light of the new direction. In any case, we'll try to connect Flinn to the Russians and see if we can find out anything more about Yevgeny Onegin."

"Vladimir Lasky," Castle corrected her. "Onégin is the eponymous protagonist of the novel. They chose the young poet as their alias instead, so that may be our first clue?" He shrugged his shoulders.

They continued discussing possible leads until the waitress returned with Castle's credit card and then they bid each other good night.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rated M. Pure and unadulterated smut fest. Seriously. Not safe for work. You have been warned.

"You never told me how you got the curse reversed," Kate wrapped her arms around Castle's torso from behind, watching them in the mirror. Rick tossed his toothbrush into the cup and leaned back into her body.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" He grinned and winked at her in the reflection.

"Don't be mean, Rick." She pressed a kiss on his naked shoulder blade, letting her lips linger.

"I'm not. I can't tell you or it will reverse the break of the curse."

"Seriously?" She looked up and locked eyes with him in the mirror.

"Seriously. Besides, you wouldn't want to know what I had to do." His eyes twinkled mischievously.

"Now you're just making me curious." She pushed herself away from him.

"I thought you didn't believe in the curse." He turned around and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"I don't, I just think I have a right to ascertain my future husband hasn't been hexed."

"Oh and how would you ascertain that?" Castle's hand wandered to the knot in the belt of her bathrobe.

"I have my ways." She traced his pectorals with her fingertips lightly.

"Care to share your expertise?" Rick leaned in and teased her mouth with his lips.

Oh this is how he wanted to play it? Fine, two could play at this game, Beckett thought, as she moved her lips to his ear and nibbled on his earlobe. He shuddered and tightened his embrace. Before she knew it, he'd whisked them around until he had her back pressed into the bathroom counter, attacking her throat with his lips. Kate let out an involuntary moan.

"Today was fun," Castle hummed against the soft skin on her throat. "I miss working with you."

"I know," Kate sighed. "It's not quite the same without you."

"Yeah?" He smiled at her shyly.

She nodded and buried her face into his neck. "Mmm, you smell so good."

"Enough to take me back tomorrow?" He tried and Beckett threw her head back laughing.

She brought it back forward and locked eyes with him. "We'll see."

"I can be very convincing."

"Give it your best shot, writer boy."

He leaned back and licked his lips. The silk fabric hugged her figure loosely, revealing a naked path in the middle. His hand reached out to push back the edges of the robe to uncover the pink flesh of her stiff nipples. Castle groaned as he lowered his face to take one of them into his mouth. Kate gasped in response and stuck her breasts out. Her hands flew to his head, so she could bury her fingers in his hair. She widened her stance to allow Rick to press himself into her crotch. His erection was straining against the confinement of his silk boxers, longing to be enclosed by her soft warmth. Kate hummed, as Castle's mouth sucked hungrily at her nipple and rocked his hips. She let her fingers run through his hair, down his neck and back, before they came to rest on his hips. He lifted his head and his lips sought hers in a hungry kiss. His tongue probed her mouth curiously, as if it was his first foray into the sweet taste of her mouth. She kissed him back with as much passion, enjoying the velvet brush of their eager tongues.

Beckett pulled down his boxers with an impatient tug and freed his cock. Rick lifted her up onto the sink; the cold wet porcelain sending a momentary shock through her system that only served to heighten her sensations. She reached for his cock, letting his hard flesh fill out her palm. He shoved his boxers further down, while he crowded back into her space. They kissed for what seemed like an eternity, while Kate pumped his cock with her fist.

"Beckett, you're gonna make me come." Castle's voice held a warning tone.

"That's the idea," she replied.

"You're not playing fair! I thought I'd get to convince you to take me with you to work tomorrow," he let out a deep groan, "with my sexual prowess! You're playing dirty. I'm marrying a vixen."

She grazed the stubble on his chin with her teeth, and murmured, "Can't say I didn't warn ya." She flicked her wrist to change her grip on his cock, so she could rub her thumb over his frenulum. Her other hand cupped his balls and she could feel the tightness, foreshadowing his imminent orgasm.

"Shit, Kate, shit," he tried to pull back, the sensation almost too much. He panted, "For the record, when a woman tells a guy "you have no idea," it's generally received as a promise of awesome sex to come and not as a warning!"

"Just enjoy it, Castle. Let me do something good for you." She kissed him hard, probing his mouth with her tongue, while she spread the moisture leaking out of his head all over his shaft, using it for lubrication. "I'm sorry for showing you the cold shoulder today, I was just so pissed off."

"Apology handjob accepted," he hummed, "and for what it's worth I'm really sorry about it, too."

"Sorry you pissed me off, sorry you got caught or sorry you did it?" She pulled back and challenged him.

"Oh, we're doing angry sex tonight?" He grinned and she slapped his naked ass playfully.

"Shut up and kiss me," She rolled her eyes before she pulled him closer.

He looked down at his abandoned cock, weeping at the loss of contact. His erection jutted out proudly between their bodies, and he brushed his head  briefly over her glistening, wet labia. Beckett let out a long moan. She was so ready.

"You're so beautiful," he whispered in awe. "So breathtakingly beautiful. And mine." He slipped inside her without warning, causing Kate to cry out in surprise.

"Yessss," she hissed and threw her head back. His lips travelled down her throat, his teeth nipping at her soft flesh here and there.

"Not gonna last long," He gasped as he set a frantic rhythm of quick, short thrusts.

"Harder!" She ordered and Castle plunged his cock deeper into her pussy. "Don't hold back," she whispered. She scooted forward and sat upright, changing the angle of his strokes. She locked her legs around his hips and threw her arms around his shoulders. The air left her lungs, as he fucked her roughly. The edge of the counter cut into her skin, even though it was rounded. His fingers clasped around her hips so tightly she was sure they would leave bruises tomorrow. But she didn't care. She'd brought out this animalistic side of him. She'd teased him until the breaking point and now he was fucking her without any restraints.

Rick's lips travelled to hear ear, sucking in her earlobe. His teeth grazed the sensitive flesh, as he huskily rasped, "I'm so close, you feel so incredible tonight. I wish I could take you like this all night long, but dammit, Kate, you have me reciting baseball stats in my head like an inexperienced school boy."

"Let go Castle, don't wait for me, just come for me." She encouraged him, turning her head into his side, so she could rub her nose into his soft skin. "Just fuck me till you come, Rick. Just fuck me, fuck me." She thought she felt him inside her swell even more, as he plunged deeper than before, and so she clenched her walls around him, intent to trigger his climax.

"Oh shit, Kate. Do that again," he begged and she tightened her muscles around him again and again and again, milking his seed from his cock. He yelled out loud and slumped over her body, breathing her name over and over into her ear. His thrusts became sloppy and weaker, as he pumped into her a few more times until she was full and he completely spent.

"Shit, babe, that was amazing," he hummed. He buried his face in her neck, placing uncoordinated kisses on her skin. She cradled his head in her hand, stroking the hair at the nape of his neck, while he recovered from what was apparently a truly earth-shattering orgasm.

"You ok there, stud?" She looked at him amused.

He just nodded into her neck, unable to form words. His breath was still coming out in hot, short pangs. "Just…" he finally wheezed out, "need a minute… or ten."

She buried her nose in his hair and smiled. His whole body was still thrumming from arousal. She could feel his erratic heart beat pumping the blood through his veins, his muscles were still flexing randomly and uncoordinated. She pressed a kiss into his full head of hair and continued to stroke the sweat-drenched wisps in his neck.

"Jesus, Kate, you're killing me." He complained half-heartedly, "But what a way to go!" He turned his head to gaze up at her with his goofy post-coital daze. He lifted his head and kissed her slowly.

"Sorry. I didn't hurt you, did I?" He mumbled against her lips, before he pulled back and studied her face carefully.

"A little sore maybe for a couple days." She shrugged and her grin said it was worth it.

"I don't know what came over me. I just lost control completely. That's never happened to me before."

"First for everything," she smiled and brushed his front flop of hair back. "Kinda hot to know I can do this to you. Make you lose control like that…"

"Oh Kate!" He sighed and rested his head against hers. "The things you do to me could fill a book. A very, very X-rated book." He nuzzled her neck. "You're amazing." She smiled and her lips placed trails of kisses on the free patches of skin she could find. Damn, her fiancé had a nice full head of hair! She couldn't contain the whimper when his limp cock slipped out and left her with an empty feeling. She sighed heavily and reached for the washcloth.

"Come on sleepy head," she announced and jostled her shoulder. "Let's get you to bed before you zone out on me."

"Jesus, Kate, what did you do to me?" He mumbled into her neck. "It's like I've got no spine. I don't know what you did different this time but for a moment I thought my legs would give out. I suddenly crave a cigarette and I don't even smoke! Talk about someone hexing me!" He laughed and shook his head slightly. "You've bewitched me, Kate. I'm completely and utterly enthralled with you." He sighed deeply. "You used your black magic on me, your witchy powers."

"No magic." She snorted and shoved him playfully, "It's called Kegels, Castle, google it sometime."

Reluctantly he pulled back and Kate slipped her hand between their bodies. His eyes followed her hand and he watched as she gently cleaned him up. He hissed when the fabric of the cloth made contact with his sensitive head. He groaned and his cock twitched, when his eyes trailed across her engorged pussy and saw his load pool at her entrance, threatening to spill. His semen. His seed that one day, hopefully soon, would get her pregnant with his child. He was overcome with a rush of tenderness for her, as the image of her swollen with his baby hit him hard. He stilled her hand and took the washcloth from her, wiping her pussy with such reverence and gently movements, it made her frown. Not the least because his motoric skills were still slightly disorganized since the sex fog in his brain had not completely lifted yet. She looked into his eyes questioningly and he just leaned in for a slow burning kiss.

"I love you," he whispered before their lips made contact.

"Love you too," she mumbled into his mouth. His fingers started to tease her entrance, as he softly rubbed the cotton fabric over her pussy.

"You don't always have to reciprocate," she broke away from their kiss and pulled his hand back.

"But you're…" He protested.

"Not keeping score." Kate reassured him, "Tonight was supposed to be about you, not me."

He hesitated and then threw the washcloth into the sink. "I'll take back the vixen. I'm marrying the perfect woman."

They kissed again slowly and she let her tongue clash with his. He sucked it in, teasing it with his lips and teeth, before releasing her again. Finally he pulled back and whispered, "I like the way we take care of each other."

0~0~0~0~0

"Look at us going at it like horny teenagers every night." Kate chuckled. They lay in bed, basking in the afterglow of their hot bathroom encounter. She was propped up on her elbow, her body molded against his naked form and her hand caressing his bare chest.

He grinned and stretched. "Do I detect a hidden complaint?"

"No," she slapped him gently and he grinned smugly, knowing fully well she enjoyed every minute of their carnal pleasures. Katherine Beckett was an insatiable, adventurous woman in bed. She leaned over his body and captured his lips in a sloppy kiss, "Love ya. Just making sure I'll still be able to get a lot of mileage out of my husband on our wedding night." She pulled back and winked at him.

"Have I told you yet how much I love it when you call me your husband?"

Kate grinned and brought her nose to his ear and let the tip run along his ear shell, whispering huskily, "My husband."

A groan rumbled through his chest. He turned his head and gazed at her lovingly. "Wife." He reached for her hand and inspected her engagement ring.

"I'm sorry about today." She kissed his chin. "I love you." She looked up, searching his eyes. "You must think I'm embarrassed by you."

"I don't. Kate, it's ok. I understand. It was a less than ideal situation."

"You're always so understanding. I don't deserve it. I don't know what's wrong with me." She sighed heavily and fit her head into the crook of his neck. "I don't want to hide you. It shouldn't be such a big deal that my coworkers know whom I'm dating."

"I get it. It's who you are." Rick glanced down, "You're building walls again." When he felt her tense in his arms, he kissed her through her hair. "Not in a bad way."

"I don't want to regress."

"You're not. It's different. You're erecting walls around us. Not between us." He shifted his weight and sat up a little. "It's in your nature. You're a protector. This is all new for you, so you're doing the only thing familiar to you. You just want to keep this, us safe from prying eyes until you figure things out with us, at work... Besides, I'm here to make sure you don't build them to high, just a nice little mural around our little cocoon of love." He teased her and she rolled her eyes.

"I don't want to hide our relationship from the world anymore. I swear. I want to have dinner dates and leisurely strolls in the park together. I don't mind people knowing about us, really… It's just sometimes easier not to say anything."

"I know," he smiled. He kissed her softly, "It's okay, Kate. We've got all the time in the world to figure out how to make this relationship work. We just need a little time to adjust to the changing circumstances. You were rightfully angry with me today, I could have very easily embarrassed you at your new job. Sometimes I leap before I think."

"Sometimes?" She teased him with an incredulous look.

"Hush!" He smirked, "I'll admit that bailing someone out of jail is really the worst possible scenario for a law enforcement officer to introduce her fiancé to her colleagues. But it was kinda hot watching you today."

She glanced at him skeptically.

"No seriously. That snappy tone, the brusque body language. It reminded me so much of our early cases together, when you were uncomfortable having me around. It's how you behave when you feel a little like a fish out of water." She opened her mouth to protest, but he shushed her. "Which is okay, by the way, because it's a new job, a different line of work and you have to prove yourself all over again. That's just how you are when you feel you're being tested. You overcompensate. I get it. And it's a really big turn on, too, because it's like finding out what sex and/or a relationship between us would have been like if you'd taken me up on my offer that day in the alley."

"Do you regret it took us so long to get here?"

"No. It wouldn't have been the same. Neither of us was ready for a long-term relationship back then. I can see that now. We would've burned like a supernova – incredibly bright at first and then we'd fizzled out. Today, however… I've never felt so committed to anyone, Kate. Except Alexis, but that's different. What I'm trying to say is I still had a lot of growing up to do."

"I like to think I played a small role in that," she smiled shyly and Rick felt all kinds of butterflies swarming through his body.

"You did, Kate." He crushed his lips against hers, kissing her hard. "So much, you'll never know. All I am today is because of you. It's a horrible cliché but it's just the truth. You made me want to be a better man for you. For all my faults, all I've really ever wanted since I fell in love with you was become the man worthy of your love."

"When it's really been the other way round the whole time." Kate sighed. "It's me who was so unworthy of your love, Rick. What you said…about me hiding in nowhere relationships… you were right. I was scared and a coward. For all the times I've accused you of being an egotistical jackass, I haven't really been that much better."

"You are nothing short of amazing, Kate." He ran his nose along her temples. "And you had a very good reason to shut out the world. You were hurt in a way nobody should ever have to go through. You were just protecting yourself."

"Maybe that's true but it didn't do me a whole lot of good. You were right all along. I was attracted to you when we met. Of course you were a complete and total jackass so that took care of the swooning really quickly, but you also have a lot of redeeming qualities. You are a wonderful man deep down inside, generous, open-hearted, loyal…"

He leaned back into the pillows smugly and folded his hands behind his head. "Tell me more, Detective Beckett. What else do you like, no love, about me?"

"All those things you think annoy me?" she whispered conspiratorially. He nodded imperceptibly and she grinned, "In reality those are the things I love about you the most. The way you can get excited over the smallest things. For all those horrible things we've seen over the last five years at work, you've retained a remarkable childlike innocence. You're an optimist; you always look for the silver lining. You always want to help, granted not always in the best way, but you are a great friend and partner."

"You are all those things, too." He tried to return the compliment but Kate shook her head.

"Not like you. I'm driven by a sense of justice; you're just driven by a need to do good, the right thing, even if you go about it the wrong way. You've always believed in me in a way no man ever has. You saw things in me, I didn't see. Yes, you drive me crazy sometimes, but Castle, you also make me feel so good. So…"

"Extraordinary?" He grinned smugly and she swatted his chest.

"What I'm trying to say is…" She struggled to explain. "I want to be all those things you see in me. For you. For me. For us. And that's why I lied about the shooting. That's why I sent you away that summer." Tears filled her eyes. "I couldn't let you see me like that. You put me on that pedestal and I'd sunken so low…"

"Kate…" He protested but she wouldn't let him finish.

"No, Rick, let me say this because I'll never find the courage again to do so. I love you. I've loved you for so long and I've always known that when we get together I wanted it to be forever."

"Your one and done." His eyes twinkled as he smiled.

Her eyes darted around as she studied his face for a beat longer before she replied solemnly, "Yeah." She couldn't help but give him a long and sweet kiss before she continued, "I've been self-sabotaging my relationships for so long, I had to make sure this one was going to last. I was determined to become the best version of me before we took that leap. So I lied about the shooting. I needed more time to put myself back together. Ever since my mom's death, it's felt as if there's been pieces of me missing."

"Kate, you're not a broken vase that needs to be fixed."

"I know that now. But for so many years I've tried to put the pieces back together, frantically searching for everything I lost that night. And it's been so frustrating trying to make the pieces fit because there were always those gaping holes that I tried to stuff with meaningless relationships. I hated those holes in me; I wanted to be whole again. And yet at the same time, I couldn't let go of these holes because it felt that if I fixed them for good I would let my mom down. I would move on and forget."

"Oh Kate," his voice was thick with emotion, feeling so much empathy for her, as she struggled to explain. At a loss for words, he simply tucked her into his side, holding her tightly. She went willingly and he could feel the wet drops of her tears on his shoulder.

"And now?" He finally whispered after a prolonged silence and brushed his lips across her crown in a flurry of kisses, "Do they fit now?"

"No," she shook her heard, "but it doesn't matter anymore."

"So what's changed?" He pulled back and looked at her curiously.

"You." She followed him and kissed him ever so softly. "You. You came into my life like a whirlwind and made an even bigger chaos of my life until I had no idea how all the pieces of my life even were supposed to fit together."

"And that helped?" He frowned bemused.

"Yeah," she beamed at him, "because I realized how stupid I was trying to reassemble something that was so irretrievably broken. And once I realized that, I could focus on building something new, better, stronger out of the loose pieces."

"That's what you were trying to tell me on the swings." Rick finally realized. "I'm sorry I didn't understand you completely back then."

Beckett rolled onto her back, needing to put some physical distance between them for what she was going to say next.

"It's okay. You waited for me anyway while I fixed myself."

"You didn't have to do it by yourself, Kate." He pressed his lips together and shook his head. "I would have been there for you. I would've helped you every step of the way."

"I know, but this was something I had to do myself. Can you understand that?"

He nodded timidly, even though he really didn't.

"Besides, I didn't have to do it completely on my own, I had a little help along the way."

"Is that why you kept seeing Dr. Burke?" He rolled over onto his side and propped himself up on his elbow. He studied her carefully but respected the space she'd put between them.

"Yeah. It was hard at first but he helped me figure out some very important things about myself. Like for instance that I wanted you to be the centerpiece around which I wanted to reassemble the broken pieces of my life. He made me realize that if my pieces don't fit together, maybe they fit better with one of yours, and it's okay if they don't match completely. There'll be cracks and ridges but that's okay because we're both a little rough around the edges." Kate laughed out loud.

"What's so funny?"

She glanced at him from the corner of her eyes and her tongue poked out at the corner of her lips, while she debated whether telling him.

"I'll admit I may have been a teensy, weensy bit jealous when you were canoodling with Slaughter." She rolled her eyes, when that smug grin spread across his face. "I may have complained about you running around with another cop," she confessed, "and Burke thought it was a woman because of my jealousy."

Castle chuckled. "Don't let Slaughter hear that."

"Wait, you talked about me in your sessions?" There was a little bit of awe in his voice that she thought him important enough in her life to talk about him in therapy. She just wanted to knock him over the head and point out to him that the whole point of going back to therapy was so that she could have the relationship she always wanted with him.

She nodded, "I was fretting about you pulling back, when I thought we were actually getting to a point where a relationship was on the horizon. So I asked him for advice on what I should do about it. He asked me instead what I wanted to do about it."

"And what did you say?"

She looked at him from under her eyes, fluttering her eyelashes a little bit at him. "That I wanted to fuck your brains out." She closed her eyes and felt her cheeks blush a little.

Rick let out a guffaw, "You did not! The poor man!"

"Trust me, he's heard and seen worse. Besides, he totally deserved it. He had that smug grin on his face all throughout the entire session like he just knew I was secretly pining for you. He set himself up for that one."

"I'm sorry I grew impatient with you." He sighed and pulled her back closer to him.

"No, it's ok. I didn't do a very good job explaining myself back then. I should have been clearer with you. More direct but I couldn't just ask you straight out to wait for me."

"Yes, you could have because the truth is I would have waited. I'll always wait for you, Kate. I love you. I'll always be there." He stated solemnly. "That summer was the worst time of my life."

"I'm so sorry I lied to you."

"That's not even it, Kate." Castle explained, "Sure it sucked knowing that I poured my heart out to you and you didn't even remember. But what was ten times worse was that you pushed me away. I felt so guilty about everything and you'd locked me out of your life."

"You thought I was punishing you?"

He nodded, "If I'd never reopened your mother's case, if I had been just one second faster…"

"Then maybe you'd be dead now." Beckett sighed, scooting closer to him. "You can't think like this."

"I put you in danger and I'll never forgive myself for that."

"If you hadn't poked your nose where it didn't belong, I wouldn't know why my mother was killed. That's helped me a lot in the process of learning to let go, even if I can't put Bracken behind bars yet."

"I can't help myself. I want to protect you and keep you safe. I love you."

"You do, Castle. You're my rock. You stood beside me on the second hardest day of my life, even after I'd pushed you away. You've given me so much strength all those years. I wouldn't be here today, if it wasn't for you. I would still be chasing ghosts back in New York, keeping vigil at my mother's grave. But now I've got ambitions again, I'm looking forward to a future with you. You reminded me that there's more to life. Every day you encourage me to live my life to the fullest. You've helped me let go of my past and trust in my future. Without you, I would've never been in the right mindset to consider this job here. You've helped me grow so much as a woman and as a cop. I know now what I really want in life and I'm no longer afraid to go for it. I have this amazing relationship with this amazing man who can't wait to spend the rest of his life with me."

"I kinda have to, since I'm the centerpiece of your new life now." He joked. He grabbed her at the hips and rolled himself on top of her. "I love you, Kate. I want to be a part of your life forever."

"I know."

"No, I don't think you understand. You're everywhere, Kate. You're the air that I breathe, the blood that runs through my veins, the music in my ears, my anchor, my north star. You're everything. You're already a part of me." He kissed her deeply. His tongue swept across hers, savoring the velvet feel and mint taste. Kate sighed deeply, responding to his kisses eagerly. Her fingers brushed along the soft skin, down the sides of his body. She pressed her hips into his groin desperately. Castle tried to slow down her kisses, keeping it sweet and gentle. Slightly frustrated, she reached for him. She felt his cock growing in her hand, as she stroked him to a full erection. Her leg wound around his thigh and she pushed herself off the mattress, trying to switch positions.

"No, Kate," he broke their kiss and reached for her hands. He moved them back up next to her head and held them there.

"But I wanna fuck your brains out!" She grinned at him mischievously.

He chuckled, "You can be in charge tomorrow and fuck my brains out. Tonight let me show you. Let me make love to you. Please." He studied her eyes carefully until she nodded her consent. He smiled, "My beautiful, gorgeous Kate," he whispered, "where do I start?"

He looked at her playfully and she thrust up her hips, telling him unequivocally where she wanted him to start.

"I can't skip the main course," he ogled her body openly but brushed his cock against her wet folds, "and go straight for desert."

"Yes, you can." She hummed with arousal.

"What if I fuck out your brains first?" He looked at her amused and Kate laughed out loud, reaching for his ass. He pressed his head slowly into her pussy, feeling her lips engulf his cock with every inch he disappeared deeper inside her. Kate let out a long and satisfied moan.

"Such a gorgeous voice." He whispered and nuzzled her throat with his lips. "Have I ever told you how much I love your voice?" He pulled out and thrust back in. She shook her head slightly no, realizing it was indeed one of the few things he'd never actually commented on before.

"No?" He lifted his head and raised his eyebrows surprised. "I apologize for the gross negligence on my part. I love your wonderful voice. The hard edge in your tone when you're interrogating a suspect, the snappy, rapid pattern you use when you're annoyed with me, the snarky undertone when your jealousy gets the better of you, the soft lilt when you're feeling frisky."

He made love to her with long, slow and deliberate strokes. "Let's see, what's next? Oh yes, your tits. Those perfect mounds that fill my hands just the right way." He cupped on of her breasts in his hand and massaged her flesh gently. "So round and firm and perfect. And those perky pink nipples." His mouth closed around the one on her other breast and sucked hungrily. Kate moaned wildly, grinding her hips against his. He switched sides and teased the other stiff bud with his tongue.

"Castle," she rasped his name breathlessly over and over, "Castle. Castle."

"You like that, huh?"

She nodded unable to string together a coherent sentence.

"Are you close?"

She nodded, a heavy moan escaped her throat.

"Good," he groaned, "and those sexy moans. From that sexy mouth of yours." He caressed her lips, which were swollen from all the kissing, "those fucking seductive lips," his mouth trailed kisses up her cheek. "God, Kate, I just love everything about you. Your pretty eyes, your cute lips, your adorable ears, your tempting neck, your beautiful long locks, your full breasts, your long legs, your hips, when you sway them seductively, your belly,..." His hand travelled down from her throat over her breasts and stomach. Suddenly, images of her belly round and swollen with his child flooded his mind unbidden again and did a real number on his libido.

There was something in his smile, the way he looked at her with so much tenderness and adoration, that made her heart flutter and she pulled him down for a passionate kiss. Their tongues danced around each other as he drove deeper into her. Her moans got louder. He could feel her walls tightening around his cock, letting him know she was about to come. Her hands reached around his back, clasping him closer, tighter, deeper, her breasts squashed between their bodies. Breathless gasps and guttural moans mixed into their open-mouthed hungry kisses, as he carried her over the threshold with strong, measured strokes. With one final grunt he pumped into her deeply, holding himself completely still, as he released inside her. Her pussy throbbed around his cock uncontrollably, drawing out his last drop of semen. For the second time that night he emptied his seed deep inside her and he hoped it would feel this incredible when they made love to conceive.

Kate continued rocking her hips, dragging out her orgasm as long as possible. Wave after wave of ecstasy crashed over her body, leaving her limp and spineless. Slowly her spasms subsided. Their moans turned into satisfied humming. Their heated kissing calmed down, and her undulating hips slowed to little quivers. Their tongues continued to play around each other, as the post-coital haze enveloped their mind and bodies. Refusing to part yet, their lips remained fused together, trading slow and gentle kisses.

"I love you," they told each other over and over in between brushes of their lips. Castle finally rolled off of her onto his back, slipping out of her. She let out another whimper and her body automatically followed him, cuddling into his side.

"We should get some sleep," Rick caressed her back softly.

"In a minute," she whispered before she captured his lips with her mouth again.

"Ha!" He huffed and puffed out his chest, "Katherine Beckett cannot get enough of Richard Castle!"

"Tell me it's still going to be like that five years from now." She gazed into his eyes full of love.

"With you, Kate," he told her solemnly, "I have absolutely no doubt that we'll keep that flame of passion burning forever."


	17. Chapter 17

Beckett popped one eye open, when the incessant ringing of her phone roused her from deep slumber. Her arm flailed around, searching for her cell, until she finally reached it. It wasn't vibrating in her hand and a quick glance at the dark screen confirmed her phone wasn't the culprit this time.

"Castle." She mumbled and poked him with her elbow. "Phone." When he didn't react she shoved him hard and raised her voice. "Castle.  _Castle_.  **Castle**!"

"Wha?" He yawned sleepily.

"Your phone." She rolled over to face him. She watched him reach blindly for his phone, never even opening his eyes. It stopped ringing.

"There." He grinned smugly and rolled onto his side, snuggling up to Kate. "Time?"

Beckett lifted her head groggily to glance at the alarm clock on the nightstand. It had to be really early if her alarm hadn't gone off yet. "5.43." She frowned, "Who the hell is calling you that early in the morning?"

"ALEXIS!" They both shouted and Castle scrambled up from the bed, now fully awake. Where'd he put his damn phone?

"Don't start panicking yet, Rick. Maybe it's nothing." Kate tried to keep her fiancé calm, while he frantically searched for his cell.

"Ha!" He held up his iPhone triumphantly and pressed the home button. "Huh."

"What?" Kate leaned forward concerned.

"That was Paula."

"Paula? Your book agent?" She frowned.

Rick nodded and his eyes widened when he saw ten missed calls from Paula and five missed ones from Gina. He groaned. He wasn't even going to listen to the 15 erratic messages they left him when they couldn't reach him.

The phone started ringing in his hand again and Castle sighed, "I better take this."

Kate flopped back into the pillows with an exhausted yawn.

"Good morning, Paula, to what do I owe the pleasure of this wake up call?"

"Ricky, finally! Where've you been? I've been trying to reach your for hours!"

"I'm in D.C."

"Well, I need your ass back in New York, pronto."

"Don't I get a say in that?"

"No. I got you a spot on  _Necessary News_  tonight."

"You what?" Excitement crept into his voice.

"Jeffrey Lawson's associate producer called yesterday afternoon because they had a last minute cancelling. Naturally I said yes, when he asked if you'd be interested."

"That's great, when do you need me back?"

"Like yesterday. Get your ass to the airport and I'll text you your flight information once I've booked you. There's an eight o'clock flight, do you think you can make that one?"

Castle glanced at his watch, "If I leave right now."

"Try to make it, the taping isn't until 3pm, so we should be able to swing by your loft for a quick shower and change of clothes."

"Okay, hanging up now."

Castle ended the call and tossed his cell phone on the coffee table.

"You're leaving?"

"Afraid so. Paula booked me on Jeffrey Lawson tonight and the taping is in the afternoon." He looked at her excited and Kate shook her head, smiling in mirth.

"My boyfriend is such a media whore."

"Fiancé," he corrected her and prowled back to their bed. Beckett grinned as he crawled on top of the mattress and lunged forward for a passionate kiss.

"I will make it up to you when you come to New York this weekend. Have you booked your flight yet?"

She shook her head no, "Gotta do that today once Rachel talks to the chief."

"Well, call me when you know when you'll land so I can come pick you up."

"You're not coming back tonight?"

"No, knowing Paula she's already booked a couple of other public appearances riding on the coattails of tonight's national network broadcast. That's gonna give  _Deadly Heat_  nationwide exposure before the book has even been officially launched."

Kate sighed, "I'm gonna miss you."

"It'll only be for two days. You'll be so busy with your new case, you won't notice I am gone. And then we've got the whole weekend together."

"But after that I won't see you again for another three weeks while you're on your book tour."

"We'll think of something, ok, but right now I gotta leave." He gave her one last kiss but Beckett's hands flew to his neck and held him in place. They finally broke apart and rested their foreheads against each other.

"You get ready and I'll call the concierge to make sure there's a car ready to take you to the airport," she sighed heavily.

"I love you," he kissed her again.

"Love you, too, now go." She slapped his naked ass and rolled away from underneath him to place the call. "And I better not catch you making out with Jeffrey Lawson on our couch, when I come home!"

0~0~0~0~0

"Agent Beckett?" Section Chief Granger was surprised to find his newest agent at her desk so bright and early.

"Good morning, sir." Kate greeted her new boss.

"You're early, shift doesn't start for another 45 minutes," he noted.

"Early bird catches the collar," Kate grinned and shrugged her shoulder. Since she was already awake and with Rick gone, she'd jumped into the shower right after him and got ready for work.

Granger chuckled, "Any news on the Flinn case?"

"Yes, it looks like she was involved in either corporate or government espionage." Granger's eyebrows shot up, "I'm just finishing the report for the morning brief." She filled the section chief in on the theory Castle and she had built and refined last night.

"Thank you, Beckett. Would you send McCord to my office as soon as she gets here to bring me up to speed? I've got a 9am appointment on the hill and want to know what we're dealing with."

"Of course, sir." Kate nodded

"Alright, carry on then." Granger turned on his heels and walked over to his office. Halfway there, he stopped and whirled back. "Oh and Beckett?"

"Yessir?"

"Just so we're clear…. Bring your fiancé to work day was a one time occurrence yesterday."

Beckett felt the heat rising in her cheeks and closed her eyes. She nodded vigorously, watching his towering figure retreat.

A few moments later she heard Rachel, Matt and Rookie approaching.

"What was that?" Hendricks asked.

"My daily quota of embarrassment?" Kate sighed.

"Huh? What did you do know?" Richmond wondered as he sat down behind his desk and turned on his computer.

"He saw Castle yesterday."

"So?" Matt shrugged his shoulders

"So he made it clear that he was not welcome on this floor."

"Didn't you tell him he was here to give a statement?"

"And explain how he got involved by being arrested? Thanks, but no thanks. I'd rather let him think it was 'bring your fiancé to work day'." She quoted him and her colleagues grimaced.

"By the way, he wants to see you. I already brought him up to speed but my guess is he wants to know our next steps." Kate addressed Rachel.

"Right. You and Hendricks talk to Trevor Martins and then head down to Richmond to interview her ex boyfriend. Maybe he knows something without actually knowing that knows it."

"I'll drive," Hendricks called it and Beckett rolled her eyes.

"I've got a friend at Interpol and ask her if she can find out more about Vladimir Lensky and crosscheck their database for character names from Pushkin novels."

"Might wanna expand that to Russian literature in general, Dostoyevsky, Tolstoi, Pasternak, Chekov, Gogol…." Kate pointed out and when the others stared at her with raised eyebrows, she challenged them, "What? I like to read. I thought we established that last night."

"In Russian?" Hendricks pulled a face.

"You do know that they've been translating books into English for quite some time now?" Beckett countered, "But yes, I do enjoy the originals."

"She speaks Russian!" Rookie swooned. "Is there anything you can't do?"

"Okay, focus, guys, back to the case." McCord interrupted them. "When you two get back from Richmond, we'll catch each other up on possible leads. I'm gonna delve deeper into the lives of Jessica Flinn and Trevor Martins to see if there's anything at all in their past that links them to Eastern Europe."

0~0~0~0~0

Castle arrived at JFK after a short delay. Paula was already waiting for him in the arrival hall and immediately pulled him aside when she spotted him in the crowd.

"Why the hell are you not returning my phone calls?"

"And good morning to you, too." Castle intercepted her tirade.

She ignored his acidic remark and ploughed right on. "Seriously, Ricky, you can't leave town days before a major book launch and ignore my phone calls."

"Perhaps you shouldn't make bookings without consulting me first," Castle shot back. "I have a life you know."

"Yes and for the next three weeks your life belongs to me and Gina. Read your contract."

Castle groaned. "I'm here now, okay?"

"Is that all your luggage?" She looked at the notebook bag slung over his shoulder.

"Good!" Paula huffed exasperatedly and looked at her watch, "Let's get a cab then. We'll have just enough time to stop by your loft for a quick shower. I want you to wear your pinstripe suit with the purple shirt. The fans love that one. Then we'll head over to Hudson Studios. They want you in make up at one; sign-in is at 12.30. They promised they'd have a light lunch for you waiting in the green room."

"Paula," Castle called her name. When she didn't react, he raised his voice, "Paula!"

"What?"

"Breathe." He shook his head amused. "It's a little before ten, it'll take us an hour to the loft, I'll grab a quick shower and shave and we'll be on our way again by noon. We'll make it just in time to Hudson Studios."

"Good. What are you waiting for? Let's get a cab!" Paula marched ahead and Castle sighed heavily. He had a feeling Paula was so on edge today, she might actually punch an old lady if she beat them to the first available cab.

"By the way, don't shave! Fans love the scruffy look."

Castle rolled his eyes amused, as he held the door open for Paula, "Don't tell me you polled them!"

0~0~0~0~0

"We're back and we brought Chinese!" Hendricks announced, rustling the bags, when he and Beckett returned from their assignment late in the afternoon. They strolled over to Rachel's desk, where she and Rookie we staring at the computer screen together.

"We got a little bit of everything." Kate dropped her bag and explained, "Don't worry Matt ordered, since I didn't know what everyone likes."

"Mmm, this smells good!" Richmond took a whiff of the food, opening the plastic bags. "I'm starving."

"Dinner powwow in the break room?" Rachel had already grabbed both bags and rushed over to the break room. Rookie and Matt sprinted after her immediately. Kate shook her head amused and followed them at a slower pace.

Richmond turned around, "Just so you know, last one has to clean up and pay next time!" He flashed her a grin and caught up with Hendricks.

"What are you guys, twelve?" Kate gaped at them incredulously.

"Maybe, but at least we won't be on clean up duty today. It's a time honored rule here." Hendricks turned around and winked at her, "You gotta keep up,  _Nikki_."

"I don't mind cleaning up after you boys, because apparently  _I'm the only adult on this floor!_ " She yelled after them.

Rachel's head appeared back in the door, "Hey! I heard that!"

0~0~0~0~0

Paula and Rick arrived at Hudson Studios well before 12.30. Since his appearance was on such short-notice, no fan crowds had gathered in front of the building and Castle entered without delay.

Paula signed him in and an intern showed him the way to his dressing room. "What can I get you to drink, Mr. Castle?" He asked him politely.

"Water's just fine."

"Pellegrino okay?" The young college boy inquired.

"Perfect."

"I'll have someone bring you a bottle right away. There's a plate with a selection of bruschetta with tomato and basil, salmon canapés, and veggies with a hummus dip on the table over there. We cleared that with your office. Here's the list your office faxed us with acceptable conversation topics, if you could check the three you'd be most willing to talk about and cross out any ones you will most certainly not discuss with Mr. Lawson, I'll be by to pick it up again in half an hour."

Castle nodded, "Thank you…"

"Jeremy," The intern smiled brightly. "If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask me."

The boy left just as Paula breezed through the door.

"Whoa, I'm getting too old for this." She announced as she plopped down on the couch. "Hand me the food, Ricky."

Castle grabbed the plate and pinched a bruschetta, before offering the selections to Paula. She grabbed a handful of carrot and celery sticks and hijacked the bowl with the hummus dip. Castle returned the plate to the table and glanced at the print out of topics. He saw NYPD cases and immediately reached for his pen. While he was no longer with the twelfth, he remembered all to well the exact wording of the documents he signed when he started shadowing Beckett. Under no circumstances whatsoever was he allowed to discuss details of ongoing investigations or share confidential information about closed cases with third parties. Ever. Black Pawn had an entire legal team scour through his books before they went into print and clear all the case details used in the narrative with NYPD. He really doubted Paula's office sanctioned that topic, Lawson's team must have tried sneaking it past them.

He took a big bite from his bread, which was so delicious he'd have to ask Jeremy who their caterer was, and crossed out another big red flag. Ever since Alexis had been kidnapped, family had become a big taboo topic. He used to share funny stories about raising Alexis but in light of recent events he'd decided not to discuss his private life anymore. It also avoided conveniently a repeat performance of the Kristina Coterra disaster. He made two big asterisks next to Nikki Heat and Derek Storm, that one should be a no-brainer, after all he was here to promote his new book.

"You should be done with the taping by four. You will pick up Gina at 7.30. Your dinner reservation is at  _Le Cirque_  for 8. Don't stay up too late. Your appearance at WHNY is scheduled for 10.15am, so I will pick you up at eight. Afterwards, we'll have lunch and go over the final details for Saturday. We're meeting Tomas Marquez at  _Giorgio's_  at 5pm for the Ledger interview but their photographer said he'd like to do the portrait shots of you at four, if possible, because he has another event to cover at six." She looked over to Rick who was still perusing the list. "Are you listening?"

"Pick up ex-wife at 7.30, be ready by eight tomorrow." He nodded and talked with his mouth full of salmon canapé. Just as he had suspected, Paula had already booked other appearances with him, and would likely keep filling his schedule. "Have Lawson or Marquez been given advance copies of  _Deadly Heat_?" He looked up and asked Paula.

"No, why?"

"Just wondering." He shrugged his shoulders.

The door opened and another intern brought two bottles of Pellegrino. "I brought one chilled and one at room temperature," the girl explained, "since I didn't know which you'd prefer." She looked at Castle with a shy smile. Then panic crossed her face, "I'm sorry we've got no ice, the machine is broken…"

"Thank you, Cindy." He read her name off the ID badge she wore. "Don't worry, this is great." He flashed her his killer smile. Her eyes grew wide and her cheeks flushed. Rick watched amused as the girl who couldn't have been much older than eighteen tried to reign in her swooning. Fan alert. Big time.

"Can I borrow your phone?" He looked at Cindy whose eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"Uhhh, yes?" She pulled her iPhone from her back pocket and swiped the screen and entered her security code. "Here you go, Mr. Castle."

"Thank you," he pressed the camera icon and quickly selected the front camera, before he put his arm around Cindy and pulled her into the picture frame, "Say Riiiiiick." The girl stared into the camera flabbergasted for a second or two before she realized what was going on. Then an ear splitting grin appeared on her face as she said his name. Castle snapped the selfie and then studied the screen. Satisfied with the shot, he handed the phone back to the girl.

"Th-thank y-you," Cindy stuttered staring at the picture of her and her favorite author. "I was hoping to get your autograph on a scrap of paper or something but this is so much better. If I'd known you'd be here, I'd have brought one of your books to sign."

"Tell you what, why don't you give Paula over there your contact information, and I'll make sure you'll get a signed copy of  _Deadly Heat_  when it comes out next week."

"Really?" She stared at him in disbelief. "I couldn't ask…"

"Sure." Castle nodded enthusiastically. "You're not asking, I'm offering."

"Oh my god!" The girl let out a tiny squeal, "Best. Day. Ever! You know I've heard the stories from other fans how incredibly nice you are but didn't really believe it until now."

Jeremy chose this moment to return and looked at the scene before him concerned. "I'm sorry, Mr. Castle. Is she bothering you?" He sent Cindy a dirty look.

"No, no, not at all. Cindy was kind enough to bring us some water and agreed to pose for a picture with me for my website, right?" Castle tried to clear the tensions in the room.

Cindy nodded dumbly, as Castle pulled out his own phone and reeled her back in to take another selfie. He looked at Jeremy, "There's space for one more…"

'Oh, what the…" The young man grinned and squeezed into the frame. Castle chuckled and held up his phone, "On the count of three I want your best funny faces. One, two,  _three_!" Rick let go of the two interns and uploaded the picture to his twitter feed. He added a caption to let his fans know he was appearing on Lawson's show, so they wouldn't miss it because of the short notice.

"If I could have the list, Mr. Castle, Mr. Lawson likes to take a look before the taping begins, so he can prepare for the interview."

Rick nodded and handed over the list. Jeremy glanced at it and pursed his lips. "Cindy, can you escort Mr. Castle to make-up?"

"Sure can do."

0~0~0~0~0

Beckett and her new team sat around the large conference table, trading cartons of moo shu pork, chow mein and fried dumplings. When the inevitable fight over the last spring roll erupted between Rookie and Hendricks, Kate couldn't help but feel reminded of her old team at the twelfth. She missed her boys more than she cared to admit. Watching Rookie and Hendricks duel with their chopsticks over spring rolls brought back images of Ryan tackling Esposito in the bullpen when he was fasting before his wedding. Note to self: Don't repeat his mistake!

"Alright boys," McCord put and end to their fight by pinching the last spring roll and popping it into her mouth. The men scowled and Kate had to laugh out loud.

"Don't tell me you didn't see that one coming?" She shook her head amused and turned to Rachel, "Are you sure they work with us?"

"Unfortunately. Speaking of which, let's get our files and discuss our progress, since we're almost done here."

Everyone nodded in agreement and ten minutes later, they spread out folders and files across the table in front of them, the Chinese food pushed mostly aside. They updated each other on the progress of their individual investigations. Rachel had Metro PD's files delivered earlier in the morning and meticulously combed through their work. It didn't reveal any more holes than the ones Castle had pointed out a day earlier, but a few details showed promising leads. She'd followed up on them all morning but unfortunately they led nowhere in the end.

"My friend at Interpol couldn't find anything on Vladimir Lensky beyond what we already know except that he has been regularly wiring money to Tatyana Larina and Olga Larina until right around the time Jessica Flinn stopped getting payments."

"You're kidding, right?" Beckett looked at Rookie sharply

"No, she's also given me a couple of other names who have either received or sent tranfers to Lensky's account," he scrambled through his stack of papers looking for the list.

"Tatyana and Olga Larina are sisters in Pushkin's novel. This could imply that Flinn was one of two agents, perhaps another female planted at another company."

"Oh shit," Hendricks scratched his head, "that means we have to inform the alphabet soup."

"Here it is: Roman Dubrovin, Vlas – Vlad? Du-Dyuzhoy?" He tried to read out loud and stopped abruptly. "Why the tell am I torturing myself like this, here you go, you read it out loud!" He tossed the list over to Beckett.

Kate rolled her eyes and rolled the Russian aliases easily off her tongue, "Roman Dubrovin, Vlas Dyuzhoy, Praskovya Vlasyevna, Boyarinya Morzova, Nikita Kurlyatev, and Yurïy Zhemchuznïy."

Rookie and Hendricks watched Beckett spout out the Russian tongue twisters and swallowed quickly. When Kate finished reading the names she looked at Richmond to ask him a question but found him staring dreamily at her instead.

"Rookie?"

"Huh?" The young man looked at her like she was a unicorn.

"You're starting to drool!" McCord broke the spell and Beckett chuckled.

"Well, in his defense, that  _was_  really hot what you…." Hendricks piped up and entrapped himself in his own words, "I mean the way you just… Sheesh, Nikki, open a window before you go all Russian mail-order bride on us!" He tugged at his shirt a couple of times as if to give himself fresh air.

Beckett rolled her eyes again and shook her head at McCord, who looked at her all business like. "Do you recognize any of those names from your extensive reading?"

Kate shook her head, "Only the Larina sisters. But my gut tells me if we just google those names we might find a literary connection. Perhaps they're characters from lesser known writers."

"Okay, let's put a pin in that," McCord added it to their list of next steps. "What about your morning with Trevor Martins? Any new insights?"

"No, he still can't remember shit from the night of murder. I've requested an extensive tox screen because I'm not sure he was just drunk. He's a big man who looks like he can hold his alcohol." Hendricks explained.

"I agree, we went back to interview the bartender who saw him leave with the victim and he said he was drunk alright but not to the point of being incapacitated or about to pass out. Otherwise he would've called them a cab and wouldn't have just let them walk out into the night." Beckett nodded affirmatively and risked a glance at her wristwatch. It was now well after six o'clock. Why hadn't Castle called yet? Gina and Paula couldn't possible have commandeered every single minute of his day. Usually he called her back within an hour if she left a message.

"What about the ex-boyfriend?"

Hendricks shook his head, "Not much of a help, either. He basically confirmed my suspicions that Jessica Flinn loved her sexual freedom."

"No kidding, he gave us a list of names of all the men  _he knows_  she's cheated on him with and Trevor Martins was the only name not among those thirty-two." Kate added.

"Thirty-two? How long were they together?" Rookie shook his head.

Kate flipped back a page in her notepad, "He wasn't completely sure, a year give or take. He said they weren't exclusive in the beginning and he broke things off with her when he realized she'd never made that transition into a committed relationship."

"That's a very nice way of putting things." McCord commented. "Does his alibi check out?"

"Yes, he was at another bar and according to the bartender there it was pitiful to watch him try out his new pick up lines on the women there." Kate grinned.

"The ex boyfriend did, however, confirm that it was not unusual for Jessica to pick up random men in a bar and take them home. He did insist, however, that Jessica was not into drugs aside from the occasional "recreational joint." She probably never knew what hit her when she ODed." Hendricks went over the rest of his notes.

"Okay, so we're waiting now on lab results on the bra and a new tox panel." McCord looked at her agenda, "We also have a long list of promising new suspects and persons of interest."

While Rachel deliberated over how to split tasks and to whom they'd be assigned, Kate fired another quick text to Castle.

"So what are we going to do now?" Hendricks spoke around a mouthful of dumpling.

"Learn table manners?" McCord shot back without looking up. "Isn't that cold anyway?"

Matt shrugged his shoulders and swallowed exaggeratedly, "Sorry. What's our next step?"

"We'll take a break," McCord's lips twitched with an amused smile, "So Agent Beckett here can stop sexting under the table and call her impatient writer-boy."

Rookie and Hendricks laughed out loud and Kate protested immediately.

"Oh hush, Nikki. You've been glued to that phone all day. Don't think I didn't see you checking that thing every ten minutes in the car." Matt teased her.

"I'm just trying to check up on Castle." Kate defended herself. "There is most certainly, absolutely no sexting going on!" She groaned. She knew it was a mistake to introduce her new colleagues to her fiancé.

"It's okay, Beckett," Rookie leaned over the table and patted her hand reassuringly, "He's really hot. I'd be constantly sexting him, too, if I were marrying him."

A new round of laughter erupted at the table. Richmond scrunched up his face, as the meaning of his words sunk in. "That came out wrong!"

"It's okay, we all know you'll gladly step in for Beckett and heal his broken heart, if she ever decides to dump Castle." McCord teased him.

Beckett shook her head.

"Where  _is_  your shadow anyway today?" Hendricks asked. "I thought for sure we'd have to beat him with a stick out of here this morning."

"He's in New York. He got a call this morning from his book agent that she scored him a last minute spot on  _Necessary News_. He took the first flight out to make the taping in the afternoon."

"Oh," Rachel grinned, "that why you beat everyone to the office this morning?"

"Was already up," Kate shrugged her shoulders.

"So when does it air?" Rookie wanted to know.

"At ten tonight."

"But that's in like four hours!" He protested and pulled out his cell phone immediately. "I'm gonna miss it if we're working late!"

"I don't think we have the authority to stop a national broadcast of a talk show," Hendricks shook his head and leaned back in his chair, "a mediocre one at best."

"I've got an app to access my dvr at home, so I'm programming it right now to make sure I don't miss his interview." Rookie explained.

"Don't worry, Richmond, if there's a break in the case and we'll still be here at ten, I'll let you turn on the TV screen in the background." McCord promised.

"Will you spring for popcorn, too?" Hendricks joked.

"If you're a good boy." She threw back.

Kate had a sinking feeling that they'd make her watch the show with them anyway, hot case or not. She just prayed that Castle would activate his filter this time. Thank god, the host of  _Necessary News_  was a male, so hopefully her fiancé would not accept dinner dates on national TV again.

"So what about you, Nikki? Excited to see your handsome Rook flickering across your screen?" Matt teased her.

"Not that it is any of your business but naturally I prefer the real life version of my ruggedly handsome fiancé." Kate laughed and rolled her eyes. "Now can we get back to our case?" She looked into the round adding, "I think we should also delve deeper into Trevor Martins' financial records."

"Why?" Matt questioned her.

"Just a hunch," she shrugged her shoulders.

"Based on what?" Rookie wanted to know.

"I don't know. Something just felt off, when we interviewed him. I can't explain it," Kate sighed. Castle would understand. But he was in New York. Ignoring her phone calls to hang out with Jeffrey fucking Lawson.

"Personally, I've always thought he was a douche, too." McCord chuckled.

"What?" Beckett's looked up into three grinning faces, "Did I say that out loud?"

"Uh-huh." Her colleagues nodded vigorously. Great, now she was losing it in front of her new colleagues.

"Jealous Nikki!" Hendricks exclaimed, "I like it." He reached for one of the fortune cookies and Rookie followed suit.

"I am  _not_  jealous of Jeffrey Lawson. I am just concerned because I haven't heard from Castle all day." She huffed. But she was indeed worried that Rick had done something epically stupid like last time and was now avoiding her wrath. She'd find out soon enough when the interview would air.

"Be receptive to new ideas," Matt read out loud from his fortune cookie and skipped a beat.

"In bed." McCord and Richmond joined him for the last part and all three of them sported cocky grins now. Beckett knew about this old Chinese fortune cookie tradition but actually had never participated in it. She'd always thought it rather childish. Castle would love it. But back at the twelfth, they hardly ever opened their fortune cookies and just tossed them out.

"True friend will have answer." Richmond read from his little slip of paper, and Beckett, Hendricks and McCord chorused with him, "In bed."

"These are like the worst fortune cookies to play this game." Hendricks noted. "What's yours say?"

McCord reached for another one and cracked hers open. When she read it, she broke out into laughter.

"What?" Richmond took the thin piece of paper away from her curiously and read it. "Be true to yourself and you shall be rewarded." He grinned and looked at the others expectantly.

"In bed." They all laughed out loud. Once they had calmed down again, they looked at Kate expectantly, who rolled her eyes.

"Oh come on,  _Nikki_. You're one of us now. And rules are rules." Hendricks gave her a little nudge.

Kate crushed the last cookie with one hand and tossed the crumbles into an empty carton. She unrolled the little scroll and read it quietly. She groaned and felt her cheeks flush again. She did  _not_ need her colleagues making fun of her sex life.

"What does it say?" Richmond's curiosity got the better of him again.

Kate shook her head and muttered, "Life full of surprises." She rolled her eyes and added over the roaring laughter, "In bed."

"Maybe that's why you haven't heard from him," Hendricks guffawed, "He's planning to surprise you naked in bed with a rose between his teeth."

Kate shuddered. That would certainly qualify as a surprise in bed. "There'd better not be a red freaking bow..." she grumbled.

0~0~0~0~0

Four hours later, the food had disappeared from the table, which was now covered completely in phone records, bank statements, witness statements and lab reports. A quick google search had revealed that the Interpol names did indeed have one thing in common: they were all characters in Tchaikovsky operas. Hendricks who had poured over the Interpol list of Russian oligarchs with questionable contacts for any cross-references recalled a minor detail in one of the files. One of POIs, Gregori Karuliov, had a mother who was a ballerina at the Kirov Ballet. His father was rumored to be a high-ranking officer of the KGB. Listed further down under miscellaneous information was Karuliov's generous patronage of the Mariinsky, where according to Wikipedia Matt found out, some of Tchaikovsky's operas had premiered. Gotcha! Reinvigorated with this new lead, they continued their investigation well into the evening hours.

At ten o'clock Rookie's cell alarm went off. Since they were currently waiting on search results again anyway, they decided to take a break and file into the break room together to watch Castle's interview. As promised Rachel ransacked the cupboards for that elusive bag of microwave popcorn she knew still had to be there.

Rookie shushed her when the screen came to light just as Castle just walked onto the stage.

"The camera loves him," McCord observed when she glanced over he shoulder just before she shut the door of the microwave. "He looks scrumptious!"

"Hey!" Beckett interjected with good humor, "Get your own scrumptious piece of writer." She sent Rick another quick message telling him how good he looked on her TV tonight. And that Rachel could just eat him up. If that didn't get a response from him…

"I wish I had Castle's cell number so I could text him about this catfight." Hendricks commented.

"Oh will you guys shut up already?" Richmond complained, "I can't hear a thing he says."

"He's just telling Jeffrey Lawson all about how he met you and got the hell out of DC." Hendricks shot back.

"Kids behave or Beckett and I will eat the popcorn alone." The microwave beeped just in time to emphasize McCord's threat.

They watched the interview mostly in silence and commented during the commercial break. Rookie and Hendricks grilled Beckett for more info about "smoking hot Nathalie Rhodes," they collectively appreciated Castle's compliments to Beckett, the NYPD and law enforcement in general, which prompted Rookie to blurt out his hopes that one day Castle will talk about them like that. They shared a good laughter about the upcoming segment, which Lawson announced would be about him and Castle coming up with a perfect crime.

Beckett quietly scolded herself for worrying about Castle's TV appearance, when it obviously went so well. The audience was eating out of his hand, Jeffrey Lawson, whose notorious reputation as an enfant terrible preceded him, was for once making pleasant though a bit quirky small talk with her ruggedly handsome husband-to-be without polarizing half of US viewers. The bad feeling in her gut dissipated and she relaxed back into her chair, reaching lazily for the popcorn bowl, as they continued to watch the interview.

Until she caught that glint in Lawson's eyes that had her jerk upright in her seat. Noticing Castle's shoulders tense she could tell he saw it, too, and was preparing himself for whatever mischief Lawson had up his sleeve. Nothing could have prepared them for the scandal that would unfold in the wake of this interview.


	18. Chapter 18

_Meanwhile in New York…_

"And tonight I'm sitting down with best-selling crime novelist, Richard Castle, whose new book Deadly Heat is coming out next week. I'll be asking him for advice on how to commit the perfect murder. There's this intern from the Rodney Gleason Show who always steals my parking lot spot and it's time he learned who the boss is." Lawson's joke earned uproarious laughter from the audience. The camera cut to Castle loitering backstage. He looked up just in time and flashed his best multi-million dollar author smile.

Rick waited in the wings with Paula for his cue, listening to the end of Lawson's news ticker segment. It was the third take because Lawson kept flubbing his lines. Paula was fussing over his jacket, tugging on sleeves and lapels, fixing his collar and brushing invisible dust particles off his shoulders. Knowing the format of Necessary News, Castle kept track of the issues covered in the news ticker. After the traditional small talk, Lawson usually liked to discuss one or two hot items on the news ticker with his guest. Considering himself a well-educated, intelligent man and well-informed citizen, Castle felt rather comfortable and relaxed going into his interview. Though… waiting around patiently was not his strong suit, and Paula was already telling him to stop fidgeting. Thankfully, it was almost time for him to go on stage and the associate producer pulled him away from his book agent with a wink, leaving him standing on a white cross marked with tape on the floor. The producer held up five fingers in front of Castle's face and began silently counting down as his form retreated. On cue, the camera picked up Rick and he strolled casually on the stage, waving at the audience.

"Welcome to the show, this is your first time here, isn't it?" Lawson met him halfway.

"Yes, yes it is. And I'm delighted to be here." Rick replied cheerfully as they shook hands and the host escorted him to his seat.

"So tell me about that new book of yours, Deadly Heat right? It's part of the Nikki Heat series. How many are there now total?"

"That would be number five."

"Wow that's a pretty impressive track record and it seems like the readers can't get enough of Heat and Rook's adventures."

"Absolutely, I've been very blessed in recent years with the tremendous success of the Nikki Heat series." Castle cleared his throat and took a sip from his coffee mug.

"At some point weren't there talks to turn it into a TV series?"

"Movie actually."

"When did it come out?"

"Well, they hit a little snag in production which turned the schedule upside down. But they're aiming for a limited release next year." Rick explained smoothly, leaving out the part about Natalie Rhodes being in rehab and the major recasting of Roach when a new director took over. "It's a great team, though. I've visited the set a while ago, when they'd just started shooting."

"Well, I can't wait. I'm a huge fan of Nikki Heat myself." Lawson admitted.

"Thank you," Rick grinned. "Which one's your favorite?"

"You know I think I'll have to go with Heat Rises."

"Good choice," Castle smiled appreciatively.

"Are you still working with NYPD and the detective on whom you based Nikki Heat?" Lawson inquired.

"Not anymore," Castle explained, "the detective I used to shadow works with the feds now. She's really extraordinary, so there's really no surprise there that the feds became interested in her."

"If she's half as good as Nikki Heat," Lawson nodded enthusiastically.

"Oh, she's better, she's just incredible in real life in ways I could never do her justice on the page."

"So is this then the end of Nikki Heat?"

"No, I'll write Nikki as long as people want to read about her. I've got enough research from my time with the NYPD to last me a dozen more books. The homicide squad I've worked with has kind of garnered a reputation to deal with the freakier and weirder cases that get called in, so there's lots more material to tell."

"That how you got the inspiration for the body theft scene? That is one of my favorites."

"Yes, that actually happened to me. One of the most bizarre moments of my life. One second I'm talking to the M.E., next we're attacked by masked men stealing a dead body from a coroner's van. I mean who does that?"

"I don't know, you tell me! Did you catch the killer?"

"We did, actually."

"That must have been pretty scary, though."

"It was," Rick admitted, "it totally was. But I've had a few close calls with death over the last years."

"Like?"

"Bomb scares, drowning, gunfire – one time I almost froze to death." The audience gasped horrified. "I know terrible death. Couldn't eat any frozen dinners for months afterwards."

Everyone laughed at his joke.

"Did you ever have to fire a gun?"

"Once or twice," Castle nodded, "but NYPD is very, very paranoid about civilians and guns, they still won't allow me to carry. After five years!" He complained. "Every time I had to fire a gun, it was literally a life-or-death situation and another detective handed me their back up to cover their ass. There's always tons of paperwork to fill out after that happens."

Everyone laughed.

"Have you ever shot someone?" Lawson wouldn't move off the serious topics.

"Like killed?" Castle looked for confirmation. "No. I've shot at people and I've hit them to disarm them. But you just do what you gotta do to keep everyone on your team safe. They've got my back, so naturally I look out for them as well. And in the heat of the moment, there's really not a lot of time to think. You just aim and take out the perp before they get a chance to shoot you or one of your friends. That's what target practice is for."

"Wow, so when do you have the time to write then?" Lawson chuckled.

"Oh there's plenty. I usually write at night and on the weekends. There's a lot of time spent waiting around for test results or filling out paperwork, so I often take off on those days to write."

"I love how you just said you "take off" from your pretend job to do your real job." Lawson noticed.

Castle laughed, "You know I don't really look at it like that. I love hanging out with my boys at the twelfth. They're great people, they've become true friends over the years. It's really more fun than work, which sounds horrible because people are dead, but I'm just having a really great time with friends, solving puzzles and helping victims' families get closure in the process. And I love writing; it's never felt like a chore to me. When it starts to feel like that then it's usually time to retire the character. That's what happened with Derek Storm."

"Whom you've revived recently, haven't you?"

"Yes, yes I did. Sometimes inspiration just hits you. I love stories; I love telling good stories. That's what originally drew me to the homicide squad team I've been shadowing. I'd briefly met all these interesting people when I consulted on a case that was related to my novels. And I saw all these wonderful stories to tell. So I asked to shadow them for a while. Today, I am honored to call these people my friends because I've hardly met such dedicated, loyal, humorous, smart individuals anywhere else. I just wanted to tell their incredible stories."

Lawson nodded and then turned to face the camera directly, "Don't leave; when we come back from commercials, I'll get the dirt from New York Times number one bestselling author Richard Castle on how to plan the perfect murder."

Castle and the audience laughed, as the band started to play. Rick reached for the coffee mug, which was filled with water and not coffee at all, and took another long sip, while he and Lawson nodded their heads to the music. Lawson shuffled around the paper on his desk, discarding the pages of the script they'd already gone through.

When the music stopped, the host looked up again directly into the camera, "And welcome back with Richard Castle, whose new Nikki Heat novel hits the bookstands on Friday next week." The audience clapped dutifully.

"So how long does it usually take to write a mystery novel? How much planning goes into the murder?"

"Well, I usually start with an idea. A hook. You kinda have to work your way backwards. You start with the murder and/or the killer. Then you determine which evidence you're going to use, what your red herrings will be. At the precinct we use a murder board to solve the cases and I pretty much do the same, only with fictional characters instead of real suspects. And I've got a fancier high-tech board than the whiteboards at the twelfth." That earned him some heartfelt laughter from the audience. "I love gadgets, I really, really do."

"That's really fascinating. I always wonder if writers just… well, write."

"No, it's a craft like everything else. People have this idea about artists as geniuses who produce masterworks out of thin air. That's a very romantic concept. In reality, you hone your skills just like at any job. It's not like I wake up in the morning with a full novel laid out in my mind. I often go back and add characters or take out a diversion if I feel it distracts too much from the plot."

"So if you had to stage the perfect crime scene, how would you go about it?"

"You mean if my assistant kept stealing my parking spot and I tried to get rid of him?" Rick joked, recalling the host's opening monologue.

"For example." Lawson laughed.

"Err… don't get caught?" Castle quipped.

Lawson laughed again, "Obviously!"

"Well, I still think you should have invited the cast of CSI to answer that question but I will say this much. I've learned that it's incredible hard to investigate a homicide when you don't have a body. It's extremely hard to get warrants when you cannot prove that somebody has been killed, that a homicide has even occurred, which really hinders an investigation. So my first advice would be to get rid of the body where nobody can find it."

"That sounds like a no-brainer." Lawson rolled his eyes.

"You'd think but it's really harder than you imagine to hide a body and get rid of all the evidence, which is the next thing. No matter how clever you think you are, you're not. The more sure you are of yourself; the more likely you are to overlook the one tiny detail that will unravel everything. That was one of my favorite moments to watch in interrogation, whenever we had a cocky son of a," Castle cleared his throat realizing he was on national TV, "when suspects were so full of themselves, absolutely certain they'd thought of everything, and then my partner would mention this tiny little detail and you could just see the wheels in their heads turning. Did I forget? And then you could see light bulbs turning on in their heads. Oh crap!" Castle accompanies his narrative with appropriate faces, which has the audience roaring with laughter.

"What about hiring someone else to do it? Make sure you have an alibi on the other side of the town?" The host suggested.

Castle shook his head, "People talk. The more people involved, the bigger the risk. The police know what they do. They find the weakest link, lean on him until he's ready to break. If they offer a deal, they'll sing like canaries."

"So really, you're saying there is no perfect murder." Lawson concluded and Rick nodded smiling.

"Yep, especially if New York's finest are on your case." Castle's respond was smooth, prompt and suave.

"So I guess I'll just have to continue leaving angry notes on windshields?"

"Pretty much, or show up earlier to work." Castle laughed.

"Well, as you may know, the format of our show is little bit different, combining investigative journalism and entertainment. For our next segment, Ripped from the Headlines, I've prepared for tonight a piece on unsolved and perfect crimes that I'd like to discuss with you."

"Okay," Castle frowned, since he had not expected that, "I'm not a forensic expert, though. I basically let other people do all the hard work and then reap the benefits of their hard work." The audience chuckled at the self-deprecating joke.

"Don't worry I believe you are familiar with the case."

An uneasy feeling settled in Castle's stomach. Lawson had better not been looking into Beckett's mother's murder or he might be strangling the cocky bastard on live television. Well, not live live, but still in front of a live audience. Rick glanced at Paula who shrugged her shoulders, indicating she had no idea what this was about.

"About a year ago, I think you came across an almost perfect murder, which put you right at the center of an investigation. Let's take a look." Lawson gave a curt nod and the newsfeed started.

Rick's eyes widened in horror when he saw his own mug shot on the screen from the time he'd been taken into custody for the Tessa Horton killing. He sent Lawson a dirty look and then glanced at Paula in panic. Castle could tell that his book agent was livid and had not expected this curveball either because he could already see her whipping out her cell phone and pacing in the wings. Heads were definitely going to roll after the taping.

Rick ran his fingers through his hair and watched horrified as Lawson's "investigative journalism segment" unrolled the Tessa Horton homicide from Castle's perspective as the perfect crime. By now he was seething inside and reached up to tear off the microphone and end the interview right then and there. Lawson stared proudly at the monitor in front of him, mouthing along with the voice over.

Paula caught Rick's movements from the corner of her eyes and shook her head wildly at him. She signaled him to do damage control on screen, while she pulled strings behind the scenes. Castle sighed. She was right. Walking out on the taping would only give Lawson satisfaction and paint him as a sore loser. So he let go of the microphone again and squared his shoulders, mentally preparing himself for a face off.

Rick almost lost it again, when at the end of the footage Lawson dragged Beckett into this mess. Castle closed his eyes and counted quietly backwards from ten to keep himself from lunging over the desk and throttling the talk show host on air. Instead he took a few deep breaths then slowly pulled off the microphone.

_"While the official version was that Richard Castle shot and killed Jerry Tyson who had framed the famous writer for a ritualistic killing as an act of revenge, the only two people to actually see the Triple Killer were Richard Castle and his partner in crime, Detective Beckett. For a man of Richard Castle's means, who had so elaborately planned his escape from jail, it would have been only all too easy to stage a fake shootout and frame another man for a murder he had committed. Detective Beckett, who is the inspiration for Nikki Heat and has long been rumored to have a secret romance with the famous writer, would naturally back up her boyfriend's story. After all Jerry Tyson's body was never found by NYPD divers. Wouldn't it make more sense that the handsome, successful writer used his connections to make it look like he was being framed by a serial killer so he could get away with murder? Did Richard Castle achieve the impossible? Did he plan and commit the perfect crime? Did he fool his friends and family with his amiable charms and winning smile, hiding his devious mind out in the open as a mystery novelist all along? You decide."_


	19. Chapter 19

Beckett, Rookie, Hendricks and McCord stared slack-jawed and speechlessly at the TV set, the only sound in the room coming from the commercials flickering across the screen. Rookie opened his mouth a few times to speak but quickly shut it again, unsure of what to say in this situation.

"Did this just happen?" Matt finally broke the silence.

"It's not true," Beckett replied quietly, "it's all a lie."

"We know, Beckett." He patted her on her back. "Everyone knows what a hack he is. Nobody in their right mind will believe him."

"What if they do?" Kate whispered. "He practically accused the entire NYPD of covering up a crime!" She suddenly shouted.

"Relax, I'm sure NYPD has got it under control. Otherwise you would've heard from your old team by now. The taping was in the afternoon after all and I'm sure their lawyers are already all over this PR nightmare." Rachel advised her. "Try calling him again."

Kate pursed her lips and pulled out her phone. No new messages. No missed calls. She sighed heavily and speed dialed her fiancé, only to be sent straight to voice mail again. "Hey Castle, it's me again. Call me when you get this. I just saw it. Just please call me, ok? Don't do anything stupid!"

She hung up and looked at her new colleagues at a loss.

"Don't worry, it'll all blow over quickly." Hendricks tried to cheer her up, "If you're lucky Charlie Sheen will have another public meltdown tomorrow and you'll be old news."

"What if not?" Kate squared her chin and stared him down. "What if there's another investigation? What if this gets drawn out by lawyers and the media? How am I supposed to do my job when everything I do gets scrutinized by everyone?"

"Hey, calm down!" Rachel put her hand on Beckett's shoulder. "No one here is questioning your work ethics. They did a thorough background check on you and nothing flagged up. Obviously the guys upstairs agree with IA that there was no wrongful behavior on your or your team's account."

"Shhh!" Rookie motioned for them to watch the TV where Jeffrey Lawson had returned from commercial and expressed his regrets that Mister Castle opted out of providing his side of the story. Beckett thanked her lucky stars because she had been worried that Lawson would sport a black eye after commercial break. She knew her fiancé. People could laugh and joke and write about him all they wanted but the fun stopped when it came to her. She wouldn't have been surprised at all to learn that Castle clocked the TV host right before he stormed out of the studio. With his guest gone, Lawson had to improvise to fill airtime and so he summarized his accusations against Richard Castle, Katherine Beckett, Kevin Ryan, Javier Esposito and Captain Gates from the NYPD 12th Precinct.

_Fact is CSU discovered Mr. Castle's fingerprints at the crime scene initially but no investigation was launched immediately. Instead the homicide squad at the twelfth precinct suppressed the evidence, focusing their investigation elsewhere. It was only when the evidence against Mr. Castle became insurmountable that they took him into custody._

_Fact is Mr. Castle had motive. In 2010, Jerry Tyson overpowered him and Detective Ryan at a local motel, tied them up to a chair and gagged him, leaving them to die. He has been on the lam ever since. If Mr. Castle needed to frame someone 3XK is the perfect scapegoat._

_Fact is Mr. Castle has been shadowing Detective Beckett for five years, on whom he has based the successful Nikki Heat series. The couple has been rumored to be dating for the past three years, although both parties have repeatedly declined to comment._

He showed a close up of the NY Ledger's most eligible bachelor list from four years ago, which started the rumor of them dating. He followed up with a few stills from crime scenes, in which Castle and Beckett could be seen standing closely together and deep in conversation.

_Another fact: Mr. Castle and Miss Horton had been having an affair for several months before her untimely death. He showered her with expensive gifts. A series of e-mails between them details their torrid love affair until Mr. Castle tried to break it off and she wouldn't take no for an answer._

Lawson inserted copies of the fake e-mail exchange recovered from Castle's computer.

 _Fact is Mr. Castle was arrested on October 29_ _th_ _, 2012 for the murder of Tessa Horton by Detective Javier Esposito at his SoHo loft, where explicit evidence was uncovered linking Mr. Castle to the ritualistic killing of the young woman._   _In addition to his fingerprints at the original crime scene, Tessa Horton's bloody blouse and wire matching the one used in the gruesome staging of her body fixed to the ceiling were secured at the time, all of which prompted a delayed investigation with Mr. Castle as the main suspect._

He now showed evidence pictures of Castle's sports bag and the wire.

_Fact is Richard Castle has scrubbed his laptop impeccably clean but NYPD was still able to recover an old short story he'd written, which he used to plan the murder of Tessa Horton. He described the crime scene in staggering detail._

_Fact is Mr. Castle evaded justice and staged a prison escape on October 30_ _th_ _, 2012, which had been elaborately planned by him and his lawyer. He hired two actors to impersonate two law enforcement officers – a felony – complete with false paperwork that requested his transfer to central booking. Only Mr. Castle never arrived and DA Gonzalez launched a citywide manhunt. She explicitly warned citizens to not fall for his charming personality and classified Mr. Castle as a dangerous fugitive with a lot of resources at his disposal._

_Fact is Mr. Castle was recognized at the New York Public Library by a concerned citizen who mentioned in her signed affidavit that she saw him there with, quote, Detective Nikki Heat, unquote, confirming that Detective Beckett aided and abetted a wanted fugitive. This was confirmed by video surveillance._

_Fact is that nobody has seen Jerry Tyson also known as 3XK since he escaped police custody four years ago. We have to believe Detective Beckett that the serial killer was on the bridge that night since no fingerprints were found in the car Tyson presumably steered or at the abandoned apartment building Tyson presumably hid in. However, CSU found a mannequin arm with Mister Castle's prints, building plans of Mr. Castle's loft and the 12_ _th_ _Precinct, surveillance images of Detective Beckett and Richard Castle. If you think this is all too conveniently wrapped up in a nice bow, then consider this: Perhaps this evidence was planted by Mister Castle and Detective Beckett to implicate Jerry Tyson and divert the investigation away from the famous writer. It doesn't seem any less likely than a wanted serial killer returning to Manhattan to torture an innocent writer, risking getting caught by the police, as Mister Castle claims._

_Fact is that Tessa Horton does not resemble Jerry Tyson's type nor does her killing fit his preferred M.O. She does, however, seem to be very much Mister Castle's type._

Jeffrey Lawson shows a quick slide show of Castle being surrounded by fans, ex-girlfriends, and various women at social events, ending with a close up of Beckett.

_Fact is Captain Victoria Gates is former IA and it just so happens that Detectives Ryan, Esposito and Beckett were quickly cleared of any wrongdoing. The shooting was ruled clean and Mr. Tyson's death accidental even though no body was recovered and no autopsy could be performed. Mr. Castle was not divested of his permission and access to the twelfth precinct._

_Fact is Richard Cast leaned upon his friend, Mayor Robert Weldon, to seal the file upon his request. Now why would he do that if he had nothing to hide? We deeply regret that Mr. Castle has chosen not to comment because we wanted to give him a chance to present his side of the story. His reluctance to discuss the case certainly makes you wonder whether his involvement in the case goes beyond his consulting role for the NYPD. It was Richard Castle himself who led NYPD to the abandoned warehouse where 3XK had presumably been hiding. It would have been easy for him to plant enough evidence to make it look like Jerry Tyson was framing him for the murder of Tessa Horton. After all, Mr. Castle's claims that the Triple X Killer visited him in jail could never be substantiated and with the exception of Detective Beckett, he was the only one to actually see Tyson._

_Fact is that the NYPD broke up the unorthodox partnership between Detective Beckett and Richard Castle a few months ago. Detective Beckett was reassigned to the FBI and Mister Castle's gig as a consultant was terminated. Captain Gates continues to run the 12_ _th_ _Precinct, where Detectives Ryan and Esposito still serve._

"Facts?!" Kate growled and lunged at the TV as if she wanted to reach through the screen and strangle the host but Hendricks' arm shot out quickly and pulled her back.

"Those aren't facts," she protested, "that's unfounded lies and speculation and ridiculous conjecture at best!"

"That's enough, turn it off, Rookie." McCord ordered.

"I know you want to hurt that son of a bitch, Beckett," Matt reasoned, "but attacking the flat screen won't help with that." He pulled her back into an empty chair. "Sit and take a few deep breaths."

Beckett ran her fingers through her hair in frustration. "How could he even get access to those files? He just picked out whatever was convenient for him and ignored all the evidence against Castle. He's got it all wrong. Ryan and Esposito found the address. Tyson didn't gag Castle and left him to die. How could we have staged the shooting? Hire someone to drive the other car and shoot at us? This is absurd!"

"Of course, it is." McCord tried to calm Kate down. "Look at the bright side, his selective evidence is your best weapon to fight this. It shows he manipulated evidence to fit his theory."

"But the damage is already done. Castle's reputation is tarnished."

"Look, why don't you go home? Take some time to cool off," McCord advised her. "You're in no shape to work right now. In fact, let's all head home and get some rest." She looked at everyone imploringly. "We'll pick up tomorrow."

The others agreed reluctantly and started packing up their paperwork. Kate sat there a little while longer, staring at the folders and biting her lips.

"Go on," Rookie smiled at her, "we'll clean up after you even though you came in last. But don't think you're off the hook for buying lunch tomorrow."

"Thanks, Rookie." She returned the smile and rose from her chair.

"You're welcome. Tell him I'm on #TeamCastle!"

"I will, good night everybody" She replied and with that she was out the door. Rachel, Hendricks and Richmond exchanged worried glances and let out a heavy sigh, before they finished cleaning up the break room.

0~0~0~0~0

Once she was safely in her hotel room, Kate tried to call Rick a couple of times again, to no avail. Damn that stubborn idiot. It was close to midnight and while she tried to explain his silence all day with the reason that he was probably busily putting out fires with Paula and Gina all day, she highly doubted that they were still fighting in the trenches so late.

Beckett poured herself a glass of wine and called the loft, hoping that Martha would pick up if Castle was dead set on ignoring her. However, after three rings the answering machine picked up and she listened to the message. "Hi, you've reached Richard Castle and…." there was a prolonged pregnant pause before she heard her own exasperated voice, "Katherine Beckett." You could practically hear the eye roll over the phone line, which made her chuckle. Then it was back to Rick's voice, "Please leave us a message and we'll return your call as soon as we're back from fighting crime and ridding this city of its evil warlords." That was the recorded message he had insisted on making after they got engaged. She'd protested that they wouldn't even be living at the loft much longer but he had been unrelenting. When she'd reluctantly followed up his "Richard Castle" with Kate Beckett the first time, he'd stopped and started all over again because it had to be "Katherine Beckett" just as it would say on their engagement announcement.

She sniffled and waited for the signal, before she spoke, "Castle, pick up. I know you are there." She waited a few seconds hoping that he would do so but when it was clear that he was either not listening or ignoring her request, she continued, "You can't avoid me forever, we need to talk." She let out a heavy breath, "Just call me, please?"

After she hung up, she tossed her phone aside and reached for her glass of wine to take a long sip. Kate threw her head back against the couch rest and closed her eyes. Why was this happening? Why now? When for the first time in her life everything seemed to come together? Well there, that was probably the answer right there. Things had simply been too good to be true; of course, someone was going to throw a wrench into her happily ever after.

She wished Castle would call her and that they could talk this out. She'd rather do it in person but over the phone would have to do for now. Perhaps she'll ask Rachel if she could take off early tomorrow, so she could catch the evening commuter to New York. Damn! She'd completely forgotten to check in with McCord whether she'd talked with Granger about giving her the weekend off. And she still hadn't booked her flight on Saturday, which, granted, would save her rebooking fees if she flew out Friday night already.

Kate hated that Castle was trying to deal with this on his own. She knew that he had two experienced publicists at his side with Gina and Paula, but still… she wanted to be there for him. Like he was always there for her when she needed him. Whatever it was that kept him from reaching out to her after that horrible taping, it felt like a wedge coming between them in their relationship. And they had promised each other, sworn to each other on the swings that they would never ever let  _anything_  or  _anyone_  come between them again.

And along came Jeffrey Lawson and all their good intentions flew out the window. How had that slimy bastard even got a hold of the case file? At the time she'd rolled her eyes when Castle insisted that they seal the file in case Jerry Tyson wasn't dead after all and not yet done with them. Eventually she humored him and let him put in a request with Captain Gates. Iron Gates had all but laughed him out of her office, which did little for their precarious relationship but one helluva lot damage to his ego. Castle retaliated by calling in a favor with "Big Cheese" and got him to have the files sealed. When Gates found out he went behind her back again, she was livid. Ryan and Esposito quipped that they'd bring their ice-skates to work because the atmosphere in the bullpen was so chilling for the rest of the week.

Right! Beckett grabbed her phone, as an idea took hold of her. Why hadn't she thought of that before? The person on the other hand picked up after the first ring, indicating that he was probably already waiting for her call.

"What the fuck, 'sposito?" She yelled at him, "Those files are supposed to be sealed! How'd that jackass get his fuckin' fingers on the Tyson files?"

"I take it you saw the interview," Esposito greeted her.

"What's going on? Is Castle with you? Are you still at the precinct?" She attacked him with questions, finally finding an outlet for her anger.

"Nope," Esposito shook his head, "just got home a little over an hour ago. And no I wasn't sleeping, thanks for asking."

Kate sighed, "Sorry. I'm just clasping at straws here. I can't reach Castle. He hasn't talked to me all day and I worry about how he's handling all of this."

"He still hasn't called you?" Esposito cursed in Spanish. "I specifically told him to call you."

"And since when do you think Richard Castle listens to Javier Esposito's advice?" Kate couldn't help but laugh.

"How you holding up, chica?"

"Coping. The wine helps." She replied, "What about you and Ryan?"

"We feel angry and blindsided by all of this just like you and Castle. The boy's a wreck."

"Not helping, Javi." Kate warned him.

"Don't worry, he's fine. He's handling it much better than I would. Must be his years of experience dealing with paparazzi."

"So you've seen him?"

"Yeah, he stopped by earlier at the precinct to warn Ryan and me and see if there's anything we could do to prevent it from airing."

"I guess the answer to that would be no."

"He wasn't very happy to hear that when I called him with the bad news in the evening. I think he and his legal team have tried to fight the broadcast until the last minute. Obviously they weren't successful."

"How could this happen, Javi?"

"I don't know but I can tell you this much, whoever talked – Gates wants their head served on a silver platter. Lucky me, she tasked Ryan and yours truly with finding out who leaked the case details."

"I bet she wasn't too happy when Castle showed up at her precinct again," Kate chuckled.

Esposito laughed, "Her exact words were, "I thought I made myself clear, when I said I don't want to see you again in my precinct, unless you were arrested, Mister Castle." You should have seen her face."

Beckett could hear voices in the background and suddenly she heard Lanie's voice on the phone, "Kate, how are you doing, girl?"

Kate grinned, "Isn't the more interesting question what you're doing at Espo's place so late?"

"Guilty as charged, counselor." Her friend didn't even try to deny it. "Now stop deflecting and tell me how you feel?"

Kate blew out her breath slowly. "Still processing I guess."

"You should talk to your dad. Javi said that the department's lawyer said there was nothing NYPD could do to stop the episode from airing but that y'all had a pretty good case for a defamation lawsuit in civil court."

"I honestly haven't thought that far ahead, Lanie. Right now I just wanna know how Castle's doing."

"You haven't talked to writer boy?"

"No." Kate heard rustling in the background and assumed Lanie abandoned Esposito so they could have some girl talk in privacy. "He's ignoring my calls."

"Well, from what Javi told me he was running around the city with his agent and ex-wife trying to stop the airing."

"It's midnight, Lanie." Kate interjected, "The broadcast is over, if he wanted to talk to me…"

"Speaking of midnight, thank you very much for interrupting my sex life on my only night off this week!"

"Oh Lanie, I'm so sorry, I'll let you go."

"Girl, you really think I'm gonna let you hang up on me after what happened today? Just tell writer boy to pick a better day for breaking a scandal loose next time."

"I'd prefer there'd be no more scandals." Beckett replied honestly.

"He'll call you, Kate. Maybe he's just exhausted and turned his phone off. I can only imagine it must have been ringing off the hook since the broadcast."

"It's hard, Lanie," Kate confessed, her voice thick with unshed tears, "I want to be there for him and I'm so far away."

"He knows your thoughts are with him."

"I felt so humiliated in front of my new colleagues when we watched the interview, I can't even begin to imagine how horrible that experience must have been for him this afternoon. To be ambushed with such atrocious lies and unfounded accusations! That asshole goaded him on and laid a trap for him the whole time. He twisted every word we've ever included in a police report and concocted this deranged theory."

"I know, Kate. I saw the interview, too. Javi had warned me."

"Why won't he talk to me?" Kate sniffed and brushed her tears off her cheeks angrily. "What if he thinks I'm mad at him?"

"Why would he think such a stupid thing? This was completely out of his control!"

"Because things have been rough between us lately and only yesterday I had to pick him up at the local police station and told him to stop embarrassing me?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down, Kate. Did he get arrested again?"

"Kinda."

"Is this the point where I should channel your mother and warn you to stay away from that boy because he's up to no good?"

"Not funny, Lanie. I was really lucky that the captain gave me a courtesy call. I don't know how many more times that man can beat criminal charges before one of these days they'll stick."

"And you're afraid Jeffrey Lawson's accusation will work like super glue?"

"Yes."

"It's a TV show, Kate. It's not even the news. It's entertainment. Bad entertainment I might add."

"Yes, but by tomorrow morning all the media outlets will have picked it up. The launch of his new book will be completely overcast by this dark cloud hovering over his head and he's worked so hard on his novel, he doesn't deserve to be treated like that."

"Let me tell you something, Kate Beckett. That man wasn't born yesterday. I'm sure he's already got his legal time drafting up a lawsuit and his publicist finding a way to put a positive PR spin on this. Javi told me Castle seemed much less concerned with how this scandal affects him than you and Ryan and Javi, even Gates. I bet he's trying to fix this mess for you as we speak and that's the reason he's not calling."

"You think this is some stupid male pride thing?"

"It is Castle we're talking about after all." Lanie shot back.

"Tell Espo he better put a protective detail on Lawson because I'm not sure I can stop myself from kicking his ass all over Manhattan when I come home this weekend."

"First of all, get in line. Captain Gates has currently dibs on kicking Lawson's ass first. Then it's Javi, Ryan, Castle and me on the list."

Kate laughed out loud, "Gates? How did that happen?"

"I'll let Espo tell you that story another time. Meanwhile, don't think it's escaped my keen attention to detail that you called Manhattan home just now." Lanie chided her friend, "Are you happy, Kate? Do they treat you right down there?"

"Yes," Beckett brushed her friend's concerns aside. "Just a slip of the tongue. Maybe not. Old habits die hard and New York will always be home to me, but I'm settling in and once Castle and I have found a new place for us it will finally feel real."

"You're still living in a hotel suite?" Lanie clearly didn't approve. "Kate, are you sure you are not subconsciously trying to delay the inevitable?"

"I've just been busy, Lanie." Kate reassured her, "I'm not avoiding settling down with him. Just this weekend we've looked at apartments and we plan on doing more when he returns from his book tour."

"If you say so…" Lanie didn't sound too convinced.

"I promise,  _Doctor_  Parish. I have every intention of marrying Richard Castle and growing old together in a big house with a white picket fence."

"Yuck." Lanie blurted.

"Oh thank god," Kate gushed, "that does sound awfully boring and nothing like Castle and me."

"Throw in some ninjas and aliens and you're almost there." Lanie teased her friend.

"Thanks, Lanie." Kate smiled, "I didn't realize how much I needed this until I talked to you."

"Anytime, girlfriend."

"Listen, I still don't have a dress for the party on Saturday and you're still coming are you?"

"Of course, why wouldn't I?"

"Well, I know things weren't exactly all sunshine and rainbows when I left and I don't want to put you between a rock and hard place with Espo."

"Kate Beckett, if you really think I'd let that man and his grudge keep me from seeing my best friend for the first time in months, you don't know me at all."

"Just checking," Kate mused. "So anyways, I don't have a dress and I thought maybe we could go shopping Saturday?"

"You've got yourself a date."

"Don't let Espo hear you say that or he'll get jealous of me and hate me even more."

"He doesn't hate you, Kate. He's just hurt that you left to work for the feds. He'll come around. If there's one good thing about the whole Jeffrey Lawson mess, it's that he and Kevin closed ranks behind you. Whatever your differences, you can count on a united front in this regard."

"That's good to know."

"Now try to get some sleep. If you don't hear from Castle tomorrow morning, give me a call and I'll send Javi to kick his ass. And you know he'd jump at the chance." Lanie laughed.

"Nah, save your energy. We'll save the ass kicking for nosy reporters. Tell Esposito thanks and good night."

"Night, Kate."

Beckett hung up and vacated the couch. She took the wine glass with her into the bedroom because she decided to read in the bathtub in order to relax. She was so wired, she couldn't possibly fall asleep. Kate noticed something shiny on the armchair next to her book and realized it was Castle's visitor badge from yesterday. A huge smile spread over her face. So he had managed to hold on to it and sneak it out of the building without security confiscating it back from him. It had probably helped that he was in the company of four federal agents on his way out. She brushed her fingers softly over the image of his face and sighed heavily. Beckett decided one more time to try his cell but alas it went straight to voicemail again.

"I love you," was all she said before she hung up and drew herself a nice hot bath.


	20. Chapter 20

_Meanwhile in New York_

Castle dragged himself into the loft dejectedly. After the taping, he had gone straight to the precinct to come up with a strategy to prevent the interview from airing. But Ryan and Esposito pointed out to him begrudgingly that there wasn't much they could do. Lawson was protected by his right to free speech, and he'd argue he was simply alerting the people of New York to questionable police methods. It would only make things worse and draw more attention to the interview. Since Lawson had included them in his allegations they technically shouldn't even be looking into him. He'd claim they were just trying to protect their own asses by making him the bad guy.

The detectives informed Gates of the storm brewing, who immediately got NYPD lawyers involved. They concluded that there was nothing they could do  _before_  the broadcast, except for a cease and desist letter, but things looked good for a defamation lawsuit ex post facto. Great, so his reputation had to be ruined first, before he could do something. Gates expressed the same sentiment about her precinct's reputation and for once in their lifetime, the writer and captain found themselves in agreement over something. They'd both exchanged wide-eyed glances and shuddered. What an odd little bonding experience, Castle mused and wondered if Gates would not only help him hide Lawson's body after he'd killed him but hold the TV host's body for him to land a few punches in.

"Richard?" Martha looked up from behind the kitchen counter surprised.

"Mother," he acknowledged her and bypassed the breakfast bar directly for his liquor cabinet.

"Uh-oh." She frowned and stopped stirring the sauce. "I thought you weren't coming back until Saturday morning. Did you and Katherine have a fight? Did she kick you out?"

Rick just shook his head, while he poured himself a very generous glass of scotch.

Martha cocked her eyebrows at her son, "Darling, you look  _horrible_."

"That's because I  _feel_  horrible." Rick sighed and downed half of the glass and immediately refilled it. His mother gaped but knew better than to say anything. Whatever had happened, had shaken her child to the core, and breaking off a fight was not going to help the situation at all. Castle took the glass and walked over to the kitchen counter.

"What's up, kiddo? Why are you back already? Is everything okay with Katherine? Did you knock her up again?"

"What?" Castle sputtered and coughed, his eyes widened horrified and threatened to bulge out. "No! Mother? No! Just no! Again?! Where'd that question even come from?"

She just arched one eyebrow and deadpanned, "Honey, I live here. I've got ears."

Rick closed his eyes. Just when he thought he couldn't feel any more mortified today.

"You have to admit, son, it is not a far-fetched conclusion. You didn't look that much different when you slunk into my house twenty years ago with your tail between your legs – no pun intended – to spring on me that I was going to be a grandmother." She waved at him with the wooden spoon, sending red droplets all over the kitchen counter. Castle grimaced.

"We're not having a baby," he wheezed in between coughs. Castle's eyes had turned red and teary.

"What happened?" She'd come around the counter and was now patting her son's back softly.

"I had to come back to the city early for a TV interview."

"But darling, that's wonderful. You always look so handsome on TV."

Castle smiled briefly and then told his mother what happened at the taping.

"Oh boy!" Martha took the glass from her son's hand and emptied the rest of the scotch.

"So right now, Paula is working with Black Pawn's legal department on preventing the episode form airing with a cease and desist letter." Rick finished.

"Can't your friends from the precinct help you? I mean isn't that jackass spreading lies about the NYPD, too? What ridiculous accusations! As if those horrible days hadn't been hard enough for all of us the first time around without Lawson dredging up the past!"

Castle's phone rang and he reached into his pocket to decline the call. Martha looked at her son confused. "Reporters already?"

Rick shook his head and placed the smartphone on the counter, so he could help himself to another glass of scotch. The device vibrated and a message popped up onto the screen that he had one missed call and a voicemail from Beckett.

Martha raised her eyebrows in question. "Darling, are you avoiding Katherine?"

"No," Rick shook his head a little too quickly, so his mother narrowed her eyes at Castle. "I'm not  _avoiding_  her. I just don't think it's a good idea to talk to her right now. She'll hear in my voice that something's up. She's like a Jedi."

Martha smiled and patted his hand, "She loves you and she cares about you. Of course, she'll pick up on your tells. I'd be worried about your wedding if she  _didn't_  by now. But that's the beauty of it, too, since you don't have to face this travesty alone by yourself."

Castle twisted his mouth. Kate would hate him if she found out. He couldn't let this happen to her. Even if the accusations were wrong, once her reputation was tarnished the image problem she'd create for the AG wouldn't just go away. That would be the last straw. She'd never forgive him for ruining her career. If only he hadn't already used up all his poker chips yesterday when he'd weaseled his way into her current investigation. With Lawson's accusations, it would be much harder to keep his recent arrest secret.

"Richard? What are you not telling me?"

"I screwed up, mom." Castle slumped his shoulders and plopped down onto the bar stool to his right.

"What did you do, kiddo?" Martha sat down next to her son and rubbed his back comfortingly. She could count on one hand the times he'd called her mom in the past fifteen years. That in itself didn't bode well.

"I got arrested yesterday."

"Richard!" Martha exclaimed shocked. "Again?!"

He nodded and quickly recounted the events of leading up to his arrest yesterday.

"Katherine can't have been too pleased about that." Martha concluded.

"She wasn't," Rick admitted. "In fact, she was pretty pissed."

"And rightfully so!" Martha reprimanded Castle. "Seriously, son, what the hell were you thinking?"

"I thought I could help," he reasoned but his mother just shook her head. "And I did! I actually broke a case wide open that Kate and her new team were working on."

"You're not a cop, Richard. You're not even shadowing Katherine anymore."

"I know," he scowled.

"Look, son, I understand that you don't like all the new changes in your life but you made a choice. Together. You can't keep getting into trouble with the law if you're married to a federal agent! If Katherine has to clean up your messes after you, she'll lose all credibility she has at work. You can't expose her to such risks. You need to get your act together, boy."

"I know!" He shouted frustrated and Martha knew they were no longer talking about yesterday. "I'm trying. I'm trying to fix this mess but I don't know how!"

"Is that why you won't take her calls?"

"Hopefully Paula will come through with the cease and desist letter and then this nightmare will be over."

"Richard, darling, you  _have_  to tell Katherine. You simply  _cannot_  keep this from her. The truth will come out eventually and you better give her a chance to prepare."

"I will," he reassured her, "but I won't subject her to this farce until I've come up with a solution."

Martha glanced at her watch. The clock was nearing 6pm. They were slowly but surely running out of time.

"I just don't want to disappoint her, mother. Not again. Not after what happened yesterday." He shook his head in resignation. "She was really mad at me and upset when she picked me up at the station. And I can't really blame her because you're right, I didn't think how it reflects on her professional reputation when she has to bail me out of trouble."

"But this is not your fault, son. You neither had nor have control over what that charlatan does in the name of journalism. Katherine knows that."

"But it's so much worse. Do you have any idea what Lawson's accusations will do to her career if the interview airs? It doesn't matter that it's all lies; it creates an image problem for the brand new task force. The AG won't risk his new pet project over one measly junior agent. Best-case scenario they pull her off all active cases until this mess is over, worst case they fire her. She doesn't deserve this, mother."

Just at that moment Castle's phone rang again and Kate's picture popped up on the screen.

"Do you want me to talk to her?"

He shook his head no. "I'll call her when we've averted the crisis and then we can laugh about it."

Martha saw right through her son's false optimism, "She's going to start to worry if she doesn't hear from you."

"I'd rather she's worried  _about_  me than pissed off  _with_  me."

Martha arched her eyebrows to express her disagreement with her son's logic. He just looked at her with that helpless expression and puppy dog eyes that always melted her heart. "Oh, kiddo!" She huffed and pulled him into a tight embrace. "It'll be alright."

A knock at the door interrupted the mother-son moment. With a heavy sigh Castle rose from the bar stool and crossed the floor.

"This can't be good," he muttered when he opened the door and revealed both Gina and Paula on the other side. Without preamble both women strode past Castle, who hung his head in disappointment, into the loft.

"It looks like the producers are taking their chances in court." Paula announced.

"Martha!" Gina nodded towards her ex-mother in law and walked over to the kitchen, where the redhead was wiping the counter clean.

"Gina." Castle's mom greeted her. "Did Paula call you in for reinforcements?"

"Richard told you?" They hugged quickly.

Martha nodded, just as Rick and Paula trailed behind Gina into the living room.

"We're gonna sit down and figure out how to fight this together." Rick's ex-wife promised.

"Right," Castle's mom nodded. "This reminds me I need to call my acting class and tell them tonight's meeting here is cancelled." She glanced at the huge pot of chili she'd made. "I hope you and Paula brought some appetite!" Martha threw over her shoulder, as she disappeared with the landline phone up the stairs.

Paula was about to reply but Gina and Rick just shook their heads vigorously no at her, making cutthroat signs.

"Thank you, Martha, but we've already eaten," Gina shouted and then muttered to Paula, "You can thank me later."

"One disaster for a day is enough," Rick agreed. It would be considerably harder to fight this mess from the hospital with food poisoning.

0~0~0~0~0

"The first thing we need to do is draft a statement, so we can release it to the press immediately after the broadcast, in case we really can't prevent it from airing." Paula explained as she pulled out her iPad from her purse.

"Right," Gina nodded, "we need to focus on damage control. They've already started promoting tonight's show with clips of you."

Castle's nostrils flared, wondering how they'd edited his words to make the interview appear even more scandalous to attract more viewers.

"Gina and I sat down and went over the press releases from last year after your arrest and manhunt." She explained as she waited for her device to connect to the loft's wifi in order to use his printer.

Castle's ex-wife beat her to it and produced a crisp sheet from her purse. He took it from her and skimmed the statement. "I like it, especially the part where you highlight how I've portrayed Jameson Rook's character with the utmost respect for the field of journalism and how ironic it is to now be falsely accused by a journalist."

"As you can see, we address specifically all the fabricated evidence Lawson used against you." Paula pointed out.

"How do we prove that I didn't hire someone to plant the evidence at the abandoned building for me? Or that Kate and I didn't stage the shooting on the bridge?" Castle sighed.

"Well, the way I see it, all we have to do is poke enough holes into his little story and make it fall down like a house of cards. The rest will be up to the lawyers in the defamation suit." Gina explained. "If we can prove that his evidence is biased and his work is sloppy, we can easily argue that all his accusations are wildly speculative and don't merit anyone's attention."

"She's right. We've been through these motions once already last year when we had to clean up the mess after your jail break." Paula glared at Castle for good measure. "The fact that Lawson carefully selected specific evidence to use against you and ignored other evidence that would exonerate you like the witness statement…"

"What was his name again?" Gina butted in.

"We're not dragging another innocent man into this mess." Rick shook his head.

Paula argued, "Ricky, while I appreciate your moral integrity, now's not the time for it."

"If not now, when?" Castle countered. "We're not sinking down to Jeffrey Lawson's level." Paula was about to protest but he plowed right on, "It doesn't matter anyway. If we name him, they'll just think I paid him off, too."

"The veracity of Jeffrey Lawson's arguments is the least of our problems in this PR nightmare." Gina pointed out. Even if there was a second investigation to clear Castle and the NYPD of any wrong doing, a lot of people were easily influenced by the media.

Castle nodded, "Perception."

Gina nodded, too. "We all know you didn't kill anyone, Jeffrey Lawson included. That's not what this is about. The murder accusations aren't your weak spot, and Lawson knows that, too, otherwise he wouldn't have felt the need to pick the evidence to fit his theory. No matter how many investigations they'll launch, they'll always clear you. Because you are innocent. None of that will stick because there's no real evidence. No, your undoing is that you had the files sealed and that you had been secretly dating Detective Beckett while you were the prime suspect of her investigation. Neither of which will make you look good and suggests that you've got something to hide."

"What do you mean?"

"Why did you have those files sealed?" Gina asked him bluntly.

Castle sighed. If he revealed the real reason, namely, his conviction that Jerry Tyson was still alive and didn't die on that bridge, this whole scandal would blow up into the NYPD's face. He couldn't do that to Ryan and Esposito, not even Gates. And especially not to Kate who had initially been lead investigator on the case. Sealing the files was his way to compromise. It was the only thing he could think of to avoid details of the case being leaked. Details of the case that might come in handy at a later point when 3XK returned or if a copycat popped up. Of course, he had thought that if the files were sealed, greedy journalist hands would not get a hold on the case details. So Rick offered a different reason, "I was afraid that if someone scrutinized phone records they might deduce that Beckett and I were having an affair; and at the time we were still trying to fly underneath the radar." He shrugged his shoulders. "It's an ethics violation if NYPD partners date each other."

"You're not NYPD." Paula pointed out quickly.

"Same difference," Castle made a dismissive gesture. "Captain Gates would have used it as an excuse to give me the boot. Probably literally." He smirked.

"Which wouldn't be the worst thing happening to you if you had more time to focus on your writing instead of gallivanting all over town with Detective Beckett." Gina muttered.

"Well, it's good to know the reason but we can't use it. We'd be playing right into Lawson's conspiracy theory that you and Beckett are hiding something." Paula scratched her head. She and Gina tried to exchange surreptitious glances but Castle caught them.

"What?"

Paula looked at Gina for help but Castle's ex-wife was not going to touch the conversation they were about to have with a ten-foot pole. Paula huffed and braced herself for the confrontation with Rick. "Since you're no longer shadowing Detective Beckett, I mean Kate, and you no longer have reasons to visit the precinct, we think it's best for you if you severed your ties with the NYPD."

"Excuse me?"

"At least until this storm blows over." Paula added quickly.

Castle narrowed his eyes and studied his book agent's face carefully. He glanced towards his ex-wife who made every effort to look anywhere but him. It dawned on Rick what this was really about. "No. No. Way. I know where this is going and the answer's just no. We're not throwing anyone under the bus. Aside from the fact that Ryan and Esposito are my friends, I will not break up with Kate. We're getting  _married_."

"No, no, no that's not what we're saying at all, Ricky. We're just not sure if it's a good idea for you two to be seen together in public at the moment." Paula clarified.

"No," Castle leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms like a petulant, little boy.

"Richard, be sensible." Gina appealed to his common sense. "As long as Lawson's accusations that you two were in cahoots covering up a crime are out there, it's best if you kept your distance from Kate. At least until this news cycle has run its course and something more interesting catches the media's eye."

"Right, Ricky. We've already cancelled all further public appearances. You have a tendency to get sarcastic and a little bit snarky when you're on the defensive and we want no further miscommunication."

"What about the book launch? Are we still going to go ahead with that?" Castle wanted to know.

"Yes. Obviously the press conference is cancelled but the party is still on. Black Pawn is throwing their full support behind you and have promised not to pull  _Deadly Heat_  from their fall schedule."

"At least that's something." Paula was relieved.

"I think from their marketing perspective there's no bad publicity. Period. I spoke to the new head and he thinks a scandal could even raise sales numbers if we played our cards right." Gina explained.

"What about the book tour?" Martha waltzed into the office and sat down on the armrest of the chair her son occupied. She'd caught the tail end of the conversation.

"We'll play that by ear. We obviously don't want to expose Rick to any situations where he has to deal with the accusations and could be misquoted. I am leaning towards postponing the tour." Paula explained. "It'll also be easier to deal with the lawyers if we stay in the city for another couple of days."

"However, we're under contractual obligations with book stores across the country, so we'll have to figure out a way around that. Black Pawn made it clear they will not pay any penalties resulting from cancelled appearances."

"Worst case scenario you'll get sick and produce a doctor's note." Paula tried to bring in some humor.

"Don't worry, kiddo," Martha nudged Castle's shoulder softly, "you know I've always written the best excuses."

Castle couldn't help but laugh, remembering some of his mother's best notes while he was still in school. "Remember gastrohemoglobulitis?" He grinned at her.

"How could I forget?" Martha exclaimed dramatically, "I was called into the principal's office!"

"You made it up, Mother, what did you expect?" Castle shook his head. "You just strung together a couple of Latin words."

"And that's different from medical jargon how?" She looked at Paula and Gina who'd been watching the exchange amused. It had brought some much needed levity to an otherwise draining evening. "Honestly, it was quite embarrassing. There I was Martha Rodgers, fresh off my first Tony nomination, getting lectured by the principal on school morals and work ethics like a fifteen-year-old ingénue."

"Oh poor you," Castle narrowed his eyes, " _I_  had to change schools after that!"

"Psh, you were always too good for them anyway," Martha ran her fingers gently through his hair. "You'll get through this, Richard."

Castle's phone went off again and his mother saw her future daughter-in-law's face on the screen. She shot her son a disapproving look, when he declined the call again. "You're running out of time, kiddo. You need to tell her before she finds out watching the interview."

"You haven't told Kate yet?" Paula looked at Rick shocked.

"Richard!" Gina chided him. "Call the girl and give her a heads up! She has absolutely no clue what kind of hell will break loose after the interview airs!"

"Not if we can stop it from airing!" Castle replied.

Paula glanced at her watch. "It's past eight, Ricky. I hate to break it to you but it looks like they'd rather fork over the fine the court will order them to pay in a defamation lawsuit than forego the money from a ratings increase."

"So call her," Gina implored him again. "Martha is right. You can't let her get blindsided by this!"

"And tell her what? Honey, I'm sorry that a complete stranger is about to unleash a shitstorm on your professional career that might just get you fired? And don't bother coming home this weekend because my publisher and book agent think that being seen with you will hurt my image?" Castle scrubbed his face exhausted. An awkward silence permeated the room, while the women watched him deliberating. Nobody had a practical solution to the problem, so everyone chose to remain quiet.

"You know, maybe you're right. Maybe it would be better for all of them if I cut my ties with Kate and the twelfth. They're only caught in this nightmare because of me. For whatever reason, Lawson's got it out for me and there's no reason for me to drag the others down with me. They'll just end up hating me for what I let happen to them."

"Don't be ridiculous, son." Martha suddenly had the strong desire to slap her son's head. "They're not idiots. They know this isn't your fault. You've got no more control over the garbage Jeffrey Lawson produces than you have over the rising moon."

"Taking the blame for everything is not going to solve  _anything_ , Richard." Gina butted in. "Just call Kate. Tell her what happened. Give her a chance to work something out with her supervisor, so they'll be ready to fire back when the reporters start calling her at work."

"I can call her and explain everything to her if you want." Paula offered.

"She's been only working there for a few weeks. They won't miss her and just fire her, if she hurts the public image of the AG. She won't be able to work active cases because any defense lawyer worth his brain would contest her arrests, referring to Lawson's accusations that she's a corrupt cop. And if NYPD launches another investigation into the case, she certainly can't work any open cases." Castle shouted. "So no. No one is calling Kate until we have come up with a solution!"

The call came shortly before 9.00pm. The lawyers had failed to prevent the interview from airing but thought they had an ironclad case for a defamation lawsuit. They scheduled a meeting Monday morning with Castle, Paula and Gina and the NYPD's legal department to discuss the next steps. Paula had barely hung up, when he phone started ringing again. Within a few seconds, Gina's and Castle's cells went off as well as the landline. Martha raised her eyebrows in surprise and went to answer the landline but the other three people in the room shook their head rigorously no.

"Reporters." Gina mouthed before she took her call. Castle declined his cell phone call and walked over to the charging station of the loft's phone. He lifted the device from the cradle and set it down next to the charger, which he unplugged quickly. Knowing that, if needed, Alexis, Beckett and everyone else he cared about could reach him on his cell phone, he turned down the volume for the ringtone. That would help with the incessant phone calls from reporters who somehow got a hold of his private number until the battery of the landline device drained completely.

"Call her," Martha implored her son again. She'd startled him slightly since she had managed to sneak up on him. "Maybe give Jim a call, too. He's a lawyer after all and he can look out for Katherine in this mess. Black Pawn's lawyers might just throw her and the other detectives under the bus if it serves their interest better."

Castle nodded numbly and stared at his phone. His home screen was a selfie of him and Kate he'd taken of them shortly after they started dating. Martha gave him one more encouraging nod before she returned to the office to give him some privacy to make the phone call. Castle swiped his thumb across the screen and entered his pin code. What was he going to tell her? Sorry, just didn't cut it this time. His thumb hovered over the phone icon indecisively. As if on clue, his cell started ringing and vibrating in his hands. The caller ID showed it was Kate. Castle took a deep breath and his finger now hovered over the accept button.

How could he possibly make this right for her? She was the innocent victim in all of it. After a few rings the phone went silent again until a text from Beckett popped up on his screen: "I hope you're not ignoring me because you're on a hot date with Jeffrey. ;oP" Castle closed his eyes and smiled briefly. He loved this woman and her off-beat sense of humor. She was obviously referencing his "date" with Kristina Koterra. Normally he would have come up with a witty reply but tonight he felt simply defeated and exhausted. He knew he should warn her but he was afraid she'd be mad at him. Not because she'd blame him but because she'd be mad at any bearer of bad news. She'd had a couple of rough days and instead of the little retreat he'd hoped their weekend together in New York would be, it had turned into a fighting bad PR boot camp.

His phone rang again. He didn't recognize the number but it was a local one. He declined the call quickly, assuming it was a journalist. Apparently word about his interview had started to leak and everyone was trying to get a quick statement from him for the eleven o-clock news.

He strode back into the office with renewed determination. "Would it look suspicious if we released the press statement now?"

"Huh?" Gina looked at him confused and Paula tried to divide her attention between Rick and giving a reporter directions to hell on the phone.

"If we turned the tables on Lawson?" Rick asked. "What if we give the vultures what they want? What if we finish this draft now in time for the eleven o'clock news instead of waiting after it airs? I mean we know it will air certainly, so we're not giving away any information. It'll be his version against mine, almost back to back."

"That deadline's passed." Paula joined the conversation.

"Obviously they're interested enough to call to get the scoop on the story still." Castle reminded her. As if to proof his comment, everyone's phone except Martha's went off. He cocked his eyebrows.

"We're not ready," Gina protested.

"Let's go over the press release real quick and polish it. Mother, can you field the calls from reporters and tell them we'll have a statement in about fifteen minutes if they want to wait?" He checked his watch quickly, "9.30 at the latest?"

"No problem, kiddo!" Martha was all too happy to help and do something useful for a change.

"If they ask questions, Martha, you say no comment except that there'll be a press release shortly. They'll know what to do." Paula instructed Castle's mother.

"Okay, Gina. Run it by my." Rick looked at his ex-wife expectantly. Gina and Paula tossed their phones to Martha who caught them rather expertly, surprising both women.

"What?" The older woman challenged them before she retreated into a corner.

"Nothing." Paula smirked while she quickly typed an e-mail to her assistant and Gina's to let them know they'd have a statement ready for the late news if reporters contacted either of them at work. Meanwhile Gina began reading out loud what they've composed so far. Occasionally Paula or Rick interrupted her to change the wording for clarity. Once she finished, Rick nodded satisfied while both women pursed their lips.

"Print out copies, please." Castle reminded her, already on the way to the printer.

"What are we going to do about Detective Beckett?" Paula finally addressed the elephant in the room.

"We're not throwing her under the bus. Nor Ryan. Nor Esposito. Not even Captain Gates." Castle asserted once again, as he retrieved the copies from the tray.

"Ricky. You know us better than that." Paula shot him a look, taking one copy from Castle. "I'm just not sure whether it's a good idea to make your relationship with Kate public at the same time when you're accused of covering up a crime together – even if it's not true."

"Paula is right. I'm not saying Kate's a problem, it's just… dicey." Gina agreed. "An unnecessary risk. The fact that you've kept your relationship secret for so long doesn't help matters, people will think you have something to hide and wonder why you're going public right now. I say keep your engagement under wraps for a little while longer, living in different cities will help minimize the gossip."

"Yes, we don't want to inadvertently feed Lawson's speculations. Distance yourself a little bit from Beckett publicly. Right now he cannot prove that you and Kate were dating when you were the suspect of her investigation. It's all about perception."

"But Beckett would never betray her badge like that. The AG would have never hired her, if they didn't think she was above and beyond reproach. In fact, when Ryan and Esposito approached her about the evidence leading to me, she did not interfere with the investigation. I know they checked my phone and bank records. She even accompanied Esposito to the loft when they showed up with the warrant and arrested me."

"Did she cuff you?" Gina interjected.

"No Espo did."

"That's good." Paula said.

"But she didn't recluse herself from the case, did she?" Gina clarified.

"No." Castle shook his head. "But I'm sure the police reports reflect that she took a step back and let Ryan and Esposito take lead once I became the prime suspect."

"Which still leaves us with the problem that she was seen with you while you were technically a fugitive. How are we going to spin that?"

"I don't know. You'd think it was noble of her to believe in the innocence of her partner and set out to prove it." Castle sneered.

"Use the difficulty." Martha butted in, taking advantage of the quiet lull in phone calls from the media. The other occupants in the room looked at her curiously. "That's what Michael Caine told me once when we worked together in this odd little indie movie way back when. Never made it to the screen, oh well. He was supposed to enter a scene through a door but a chair blocked it. He complained about it and his scene partner yelled at him to use the difficulty. If it's a comedy stumble over it, if it's a tragedy smash it. You see? Make Katherine Jeffrey Lawson's problem not yours. Use the difficulty."

"Mother, Kate is not a prop." Castle was still not following her.

"If you had truly been having an affair with that young girl who was the victim in your case, would Katherine have helped you cover up such a cold-blooded crime?" Martha arched her eyebrows, "Because let's be real, this is exactly what that charlatan is accusing you of! He says you killed that girl just for fun, just because you could and to prove that you could get away with it. That's the most hideous, heinous allegation someone could possible come up with."

"Hell hath no fury," Paula caught on and grinned, "like a woman scorned."

"Kate would rather let you rot in jail than join you on the run if you'd betrayed her like that." Gina agreed. "So instead of going on the defensive, we go on the offensive. We'll use it to point out the kind of flawed logic behind Lawson's speculation."

Paula began scribbling on her copy furiously. "We'll lead with that. It's symptomatic of the flawed logic that plagues all of Lawson's wild speculations. We'll just point out how it makes no sense that your secret girlfriend helped you cover up the murder of your secret mistress and ask everyone to deduce for themselves how much of Lawson's accusations is actually true. Zero, that is. And then we'll lead into the fabricated evidence."

"And it all collapses like a house of card!" Martha grinned triumphantly.

"Mother!" Castle exclaimed impressed. "That's brilliant." He was particularly satisfied that Kate was essentially pulling the thread that would unravel the maze of Jeffrey Lawson's lies.

"Thank you, I do have my moments." Martha smiled and raised her glass of wine to salute her son. As if on command Gina's phone started ringing and Castle's mother quickly accept the call, explaining to the reporter on the other line that the finishing touches were being made to the press release as she was speaking.

"And we don't even have to address the issue of your relationship with Kate." Gina noted. "I still think it's a mistake to announce your engagement right now but this will give you time to talk about it with Kate at least."

"Gina!"

"You said it yourself. It may even be in Kate's own best interest professionally to play down your relationship with you."

"Done!" Paula interrupted them. She'd finished typing up the new version, "Check the printer."

"Okay." Gina reached over to the tray for the copies and handed them out.

"I like it." Castle stated, once he finished reading, and Gina agreed. With both their consent, Paula released the statement to the media a half hour before Lawson's show was scheduled to air, adding a clarifying note that this would be the only comment on this situation until further notice and no phone inquiries would be answered. They continued to field calls from reporters until 10pm when they silenced their phones to watch the interview.

Castle felt his iPhone vibrate in his hand and saw the message from Kate. "You're a sight for sore eyes. The TV in the break room looked never better."

Rick felt a vice-like grip around his heart. He still hadn't told her. In fifteen minutes all hell would be leashed upon her and she had no freaking clue.

"Watch out for McCord, she could just eat you up. She thinks you're 'just scrumptious.' xoxo Kate." Another text from Kate appeared on his phone screen. He quickly swiped his screen to access her number and tapped her name. And then he quickly pressed his thumb on the red button to end the call before it even had a chance to fully connect. He sighed heavily and closed his eyes. Ashamed of himself, he couldn't find the courage to face Kate. So he chose the easier option and turned off his phone completely.

Suddenly all his previous reasons seemed stupid. No matter how mad he had previously thought she'd be about this travesty, it was nothing compared to how pissed she was going to be that he was only now telling her about it. His mother, Gina and Paula had been right. He should have called her earlier, much earlier, so they could have talked about it calmly. Maybe she would have hung up at him at first and stewed quietly but eventually they would have found a way to talk to each other. Like they always did.

Telling her now as it was unfolding in front of her eyes on TV felt like a betrayal. At least he would feel betrayed if he were in her shoes. How many times had he accused her of going solo and shutting him out when it had come to her mother's case? And now he'd done exactly the same thing to her. She'd think he didn't trust her enough, didn't believe in her unconditional love for him, which would hurt much more than the sting of betrayal. He wished he could turn back the clock but instead he was forced to relive every agonizing minute of the taping as he watched himself walk into the trap Jeffrey Lawson had so carefully set up for him the minute he'd walked on stage.

"Trap!" Castle's head shot up and he muted the TV in his office. "The whole thing, it was all a set up. How could he possible have prepared such an elaborate piece in the short time since yesterday?"

"I don't know?" Paula shrugged her shoulders, "I swear I had nothing to do with this. You know I would never let you walk into a trap like this."

"Of course, Paula, but something's foul about this. This has been carefully planned long ago. Do we know who cancelled last minute so the spot opened up for me?" Castle inquired.

"I'm sorry, again I don't know. My assistant took the call. I simply confirmed the booking with the associate producer."

"Well, find out, ok? Maybe it's a co-incidence. Maybe Lawson planned to have me on his show later all along but do this to me after the book launch. He certainly must have 'investigated' this story long before he booked me."

"You don't go to such great lengths over a last minute sub." Gina followed his line of thinking. "Has he tried to book Richard before?"

"Not that I can remember," Paula shook her head.

"Why would he do this, Richard? Do the two of you have a history I don't know about?" Gina was curious.

"Not that I know of. I'd never even met the man in person until today."

"Let me call my assistant and see if she can shed more light on this." Paula took her phone back from Martha.

Paula's assistant, Beth, was not much of a help, either. She explained that she got a call out of the blue from Lawson's assistant, Jeremy something, asking if Richard Castle would be interested in filling in for a guest who'd cancelled at the last minute. Apparently Lawson was a huge fan of the Nikki Heat series and dying to meet the author. Beth had related the request to Paula and that was the end of it.

It was well after midnight, when Paula and Gina finally left because there was nothing left to do for now. His mother had excused herself a little while ago but Castle was too wired to fall asleep. He sat in his office, nursing a glass of scotch and doodling. Exhausted and a little depressed by the day's events, Castle finally tumbled into his bed without even taking off his clothes. Maybe if he closed his eyes for only a minute, he'd wake up and find out it had all been a bad dream.


	21. Chapter 21

The next morning, Beckett's arrival at the office was met with long faces from Richmond and Hendricks.

"Granger wants to see you," Matt said without preamble.

Kate nodded, having already expected as much. The early morning talk show cycle had picked up Lawson's story and was running full force with it. The good thing was that Rick was already fighting back with a press release, trying to set the record straight, even though the morning news hosts pointed out that the author could not be reached for a comment at this time. "He's seen the interview?"

"If he hadn't before, he definitely has by now." Rookie chimed in. "He asked for you the minute he arrived."

"Okay, how mad did he seem?"

"Pissed but not unreasonable. Naturally nobody here puts stock in Lawson's ridiculous allegations. If any of it were even remotely true, you wouldn't be here. I think he just wants to talk to you about handling media inquiries since you were mentioned by name." Richmond explained.

"Don't worry Rach is already in there." Hendricks added.

"Okay, if I'm not back in five minutes, send in an extraction team," Beckett joked and made her way over to the section chief's office.

"This sucks," Richmond sighed, "she doesn't deserve such bullshit coming her way. Lawson is way out of line."

"Don't worry, Rookie, we'll have her back." Suddenly a grin hushed over Matt's face, "Why don't we run a little background check on Jeffrey Lawson? Let's see how well he holds up under the magnifying glass."

Rookie grinned, "Oooh, I like the way you think!"

0~0~0~0~0

"Sir, you wanted to see me?" Beckett knocked on Granger's door, which was slightly ajar, and stuck her head in.

"Yes, Agent Beckett, please come in." Granger rose from his chair and pointed at the empty visitor's seat next to McCord.

"Thank you," Beckett closed the door behind her and took a few steps into the office. Something held her back from sitting down, however, so she came to a stand behind the chair, leaning her hands on the backrest.

"Well, Agent Beckett, I must say this is a first for me. I don't think in my twenty years at the FBI I've encountered a new recruit who has caused quite such a stir in only a few weeks on the job."

"Sir, Jeffrey Lawson is a shoddy journalist whose fraudulent accusations lack any foundation." Beckett defended herself, glad she had chosen to remain standing if she was going to get a dressing down.

"Were you and Richard Castle already in a relationship while he was under investigation?" Granger got straight to the point.

Kate glanced at McCord who gave a quick nod. "Yes, sir."

"Jesus Christ, Beckett! What on earth were you thinking?!" Granger shouted. "Sleeping with a suspect?"

Kate bristled at the crude insinuation. "Sir, my relationship with Castle at no point interfered with the investigation. If I had truly wanted to help him cover up a crime, don't you think I would've made sure to hide all the evidence against him before my colleagues could discover it?"

"It doesn't matter what I think, Beckett. This isn't about what you and I think, this is about what it looks like to the public. You didn't disclose vital information pertaining to a high profile case. Any lawyer will have a field day turning over convictions based on your testimony." Granger heaved a deep sigh.

"It's a good thing then that Jerry Tyson is dead and can't appeal from the bottom of the Hudson." Beckett narrowed her eyes and squared her shoulders.

"I'm afraid I can't have you working cases until these allegations have been put to rest. You're toxic for this department right now. You lied to IA about your relationship status."

"I never lied," Beckett interrupted him. She was quick to clarify, "They never asked. I didn't lie."

Granger rolled his eyes, "Lying by omission then. You really didn't think the fact that you were intimate with the suspect, that you're in love with the man, that it might cloud your judgment would be of interest to IA?"

Kate glanced at Rachel who shook her head slowly no. Beckett frowned and cocked her head, trying to gauge what McCord's role in all this was.

"IA was not interested in Mr Castle as a suspect, by then he had been cleared. IA was only interested in the shooting on the bridge and Castle's statement that Tyson had managed to infiltrate the precinct. They were mildly curious at best with regards to 3XK setting up my partner for murder, breaking into our home, spying on us and stalking us for days, maybe even weeks."

"You're naïve, Beckett, if you don't think this will have consequences." Granger shook his head as he sat down in this chair.

"Let them run another internal investigation. I have nothing to hide. I let my junior detectives take point on the case when the evidence started to pile up against my partner because I didn't want to compromise the investigation or any arrest. The records reflect that. Not once did I give an order to drop the inquiry into Castle. I made one appeal to the ADA to prevent Castle's transfer to the tombs after Tyson put a bounty on his head but that request was turned down. So Rick never once received preferential treatment."

"Except for the fact that you helped him break out of his cell."

"I didn't and if you've read the file, which I'm sure you have by now, then you know I'm saying the truth. Castle never told me how he managed to pull off his escape because he didn't want to put me into the position of having to testify against him. He made that clear in his official statement, it's part of the official records."

"You still aided and abedded a known fugitive. It's bad PR, Beckett." Granger leaned back in his chair. "We can't afford bad PR right now. The task force is the AG's most prestigious project at the moment and we're getting a lot of attention on the Hill."

Kate nodded and took a deep breath. Despite Hendricks and Rookie's words of reassurance, she had the gnawing feeling that she was going to be fired.

"You're a good agent, Beckett, and I don't want to fire you but right now you've got a bull's eye on your back. I can't send you out in the field as long as the media attention is on you, and they will be like hyenas once they figure out you work for us now. And they will, if they haven't already. I recommend you get your own lawyer. Beckett, you're of no use to me if I can't send you out in the field."

"Sir, if I may point out," Rachel spoke up and placed a folder on the chief's desk, "I've already pulled Agent Beckett off all active cases as of this morning."

"What?" Beckett looked shocked at McCord. So much for her new supervisor being in her corner. She'd just hurled her under the bus.

"Yes, as you remember IA recommended disciplinary action at my discretion in the aftermath of the rooftop shooting. The paperwork was a little bit delayed because things got a little bit busy with the Flinn case but I've finally filled out the necessary forms," she nodded at the folder on his desk.

Granger opened it and scanned the documents inside. "I see," he looked at McCord curiously, "is this your final recommendation?"

"Yes, I believe Agent Beckett has shown a past of insubordination and ignorance of command structure. Only a year ago she served out a three-month suspension after disobeying her old captain. I think she could do with a refresher, sir."

"Well, I do know how much you hate it when someone on your team goes rogue." Granger nodded.

"Precisely." Rachel explained with a straight face, glancing occasionally at Beckett. "At first I was going to let it slide since you're new but I warned you that I wouldn't condone such behavior and you went ahead anyway. So I've decided that a five day suspension is the appropriate disciplinary action for the rooftop incidence."

"What? I thought IA cleared me." Kate swallowed hard.

"They did but they also recommended disciplinary action." Rachel turned aounrd and winked at Beckett, who was so upset she missed the signal.

"Given your past and present relationship with Richard Castle and his involvement with the Jessica Flinn case, as well as the nature of this particular investigation, I do not think it's wise to have you anywhere near this case." Granger added. "Agent McCord will escort you out of the building and you will refrain from discussing any case details with the other members of your team."

"Yes, sir." Kate replied defeated. The decision clearly had already been made long before she was called into this meeting. She could tell when she was being dismissed. At least he hadn't fired her.

"You will report to my office and Agent McCord 8am Wednesday morning." Granger picked up his pen and started rifling through the paperwork on his desk. Rachel took it as a sign that they were done and rose from her chair. She nodded at the door, indicating for Kate to follow her.

"Oh and Agent Beckett?" Granger called out just as she was about to close the door behind her.

"Yes, sir?"

"Good work on the Flinn case." He smiled.

"I beg your pardon." Kate whirled around surprised but caught Rachel's encouraging nod.

"The agency's likely going to hijack the case but McCord filled me in on the progress you've made."

"Thank you, sir."

"You may want to use your unexpected free time to take care of some pressing matters in New York." The section chief looked at her long and hard but Beckett didn't know if he wanted her to break up with Castle or just muzzle Lawson.

"Yes, sir." Okay, things had just gotten officially weird.

"Oh and Beckett, I can't wait to hear the story about how your fiancé brought the Flinn case to our attention when you come back." The section chief smirked amused, "Though something tells me that I probably don't want to know how he stumbled across the murder of Jessica Flinn."

"No, sir," Beckett chuckled, "you definitely don't wanna know that."

"Good luck, agent." With that Beckett was dismissed.

0~0~0~0~0

"So?" Rookie and Matt ambushed them the minute they stepped outside the office. "What did he say?"

"I'm suspended." Kate smiled wanly.

"What?!" Richmond and Hendricks exclaimed outraged. Kate strode towards her desk the two men trailing behind her. Rookie and Matt exchanged confused glances before they leaned in on Rachel.

"But you didn't do anything?" Rookie protested.

"Rach! How could you let this happen?" Hendricks punched McCord in the shoulder.

"It was all her idea actually," Kate snorted. She unclipped her badge and pulled her gun out of her holster and placed them on her desk.

"What?" McCord grinned. "You wanted the weekend off. I got you five days off."

"You got me suspended!" Kate shouted.

"Look at it like unpaid leave," Rachel explained, "it's not like you can't afford it."

"It goes into my permanent file! The last thing I need right now is to give Lawson more ammo against Castle and me."

"I'll misplace the paperwork. It's the best I could do, Granger wanted to fire your ass when he called me to his office this morning!"

"What?" Hendricks and Rookie exclaimed shocked.

"What do you expect? The man is caught between a rock and a hard place. He likes you and knows you're doing hard work but he can't have an active agent who is suspected of being a corrupt cop work for the AG's task force. It took me a while to talk him out of it but I pointed out that the media backlash will be just as bad when it comes out that you were innocent all along. It will look as if we didn't do our homework, or worse, fired someone because of wild speculations by a TV journalist. Since when do we not trust our own background checks? I may have mentioned the possibility of a wrongful termination lawsuit as well."

"Yeah well, thanks a lot. This suspension just feeds into rumors that I am a corrupt law enforcement officer and that the AG's office is looking into my service record."

"No." McCord shook her head. "The reason you got suspended was your insubordination, predating this scandal. Any replies to official media inquiries will reflect that. You went against my orders, Beckett, and that's all on you."

"Oh that's nifty!" Hendricks nodded his head approvingly.

"Yeah, Rachel, that's just awesome." Rookie agreed.

"Yeah, aweseome," Kate aped him sarcastically.

"Hey, snap out of it." McCord scolded her. "You're in a shitty mood, I get that and you have every right to be but I'm just looking out for you. Nobody here is questioning your work ethic. Granger didn't really want to fire you, he had to save his face, though. You did an incredibly stupid thing when you didn't disclose your relationship with a suspect in an ongoing investigation but we all make mistakes. We're not trying to throw you under the bus, Beckett, we're just taking you out of the line of fire for a while. You don't know what NYPD will do. What if they take Rick in for questioning again? What if they arrest him because they want to make a statement that they're not corrupt and his ties to your old precinct mean nothing? What if they investigate you to make the same point? You wouldn't be able to do your job anyway with the media hassling you in the field."

"You think they'd do that?" Rookie looked worried at Kate.

"No!" Beckett simply couldn't fathom Ryan or Esposito doing that. Not even Gates. But they probably wouldn't have any say if they reopened the investigation into the Tessa Horton homicide. Shit, she really had to talk to Rick soon.

"Has he answered any of your calls yet?" Hendricks asked.

"No," Beckett gasped. "You don't think it's because they…" She swallowed hard. Surely Ryan or Esposito would have already called if they had taken Castle in. Now she was really losing it.

"No, no, you would've heard from him or his lawyers at least." Matt nudged her shoulder playfully, "We all know who his only phone call from jail was the last time."

Beckett chuckled weakly.

"Go, see him." Rachel told her. "He needs you right now. He won't admit it cause men are stupid like that."

"Hey!" Hendricks and Rookie protested loudly.

"Make sure he's alright." McCord continued unimpressed. "You've got five days to figure out a way how to fight this together. If things are still out of control by Wednesday, I'll probably have to put you on desk duty. Just a heads up."

Kate nodded.

"Alright, I'll let Rookie do the honors of walking you out." McCord grinned, "I'm sure he can't wait to tell you about all the dirt he and Matt managed to dig up on Lawson while we were in there with Granger."

"Yeah well, he's squeaky clean so far but I find that highly suspicious. Nobody's that squeaky clean unless they're hiding something." Richmond beamed at her.

"Take care, Nikki." Hendricks grinned and waved his fingers playfully.

"I'm gonna miss ya, too, Squirrel." Beckett laughed.

"Hey now, let's not get sentimental. She's suspended, not fired. Y'all get to see her Wednesday bright and early." Rachel rolled her eyes.


	22. Chapter 22

Beckett was greeted with eerie silence when she let herself into the loft. Had Castle and Martha already left for the day? She checked her watch. It was a little after noon. Martha was probably at her acting school and Rick might be in meetings with his PR team. She could only imagine Black Pawn's reaction when they saw the interview. So close to the book release, this must be a nightmare.

Kate slipped off her heels and bag, dropping them near the door. She called out for her fiancé and future mother-in-law but got no response. Feeling dehydrated after the flight and cab ride, Beckett made a beeline for the fridge. The huge pot on the stove caught her eye and she curiously lifted the lid. The delicious smell of Castle's famous chili wafted into her nose. Now she was even more confused that he left if he'd been cooking lunch and from the looks of it for a small army. Had he planned to invite Ryan and Esposito over? Or maybe Paula and Gina? Were they going to discuss the legal case? Did the boys come up with a lead and leave in a hurry?

Kate stuck her pinkie into the chili and noticed a little surprised that it was cold. So he hadn't cooked it this morning. Hm. She scowled as she pulled back her hand. He had time to cook last night but not to call her? Beckett licked the chili off her finger and gagged a little. Damn you, Martha. Okay. So not Castle's famous chili after all. Now she needed that bottle of water even more. She quickly retrieved it and chugged half of it down. How Martha's cooking could smell as delicious as her son's and taste yet so criminally awful would always remain a mystery to her.

But it reminded her that she could try and call his mother to see if she knew how Rick was doing and where he was. She'd hesitated contacting her so far because she didn't want Martha to know that Castle was ignoring her. Which was really stupid because she'd probably picked up on it last night anyway when she came home and found the dozen messages she left on the answering machine. Rick's mother had been nothing but supportive about her recent career move but Beckett was loath to admit they might be having problems to their parents. Which was also the reason why she had left her own dad a rather vague message. He'd called while she was in the sky and wanted to know what was going on and if she was okay. He must have seen the news. The only problem was she had no fucking clue what was going on and until she had a chance to see and talk to Rick she wasn't really okay at all. She was just glad that either Gina or Paula had been chaperoning him since yesterday, at least according to Lanie and Espo, or he might end up doing something stupid. So she just texted her dad from the cab that things were fine under the circumstances, knowing she wouldn't get away with it anyway. Surprisingly, her dad had not replied but she was sure that as soon as he was done in court and could talk, she'd be hearing from him again. So really, she had to find Castle first and make sure he was all right, that they were ok, because there was no way she could hide it from her father. He'd gotten way too good at reading her face and voice over the last few years and, worse, he'd gotten way too good at calling her out on her BS since they reconciled after his rehab.

Martha didn't pick up her phone, either, so Kate left a message to call her back when she got a chance. That was neutral enough. Beckett deliberated whether to wait in the loft for Castle's return or whether to head into the precinct. Talking it over with Ryan and Esposito at least gave her the feeling that she did something. Someone had to get to the bottom of how Lawson got a hold of the police files. And if she found out who'd leaked the information, so help them god. But first, she decided, a fresh shower and new clothes were in order after the flight. That would also give her an edge over the reporters camped outside the building who'd seen her going in. By the time they had recognized her, she'd already made it inside. She was pretty sure that they'd accost her the minute she stepped outside again, so any diversion tactic was welcome.

Passing through Castle's office she saw the battlefield on his desk. Paper was strewn everywhere. One sheet caught her attention because it had her name circled in red on top of the page. It wasn't in Rick's familiar scrawl, though. She picked it up and skimmed through the text quickly, thinking it was a copy for her perhaps. Kate recognized some of the language from the tidbits on the news earlier in the morning and realized she must be looking at an older version of the press statement he had released. She quickly checked the rest of the paperwork for the final draft and spotted another copy with her name on. This time it was at the bottom of the page and underlined; followed by a big fat question mark. Then it said "use the difficulty" in capital letters. What the hell did that even mean? But apparently Rick's ex thought it was really important because she had framed it with several bold strokes all around. She could make out Gina's handwriting since she'd seen it a few times before on manuscripts Rick had shared with her. Had Paula and Gina been over last night to draft the press release with Castle? Had they been discussing her? If so, why hadn't they just called her?

She found the answer to her questions on another sheet of paper that had extensive notes and commentary in Rick's familiar penmanship. Most of it had been furiously crossed out again but she could still make out some of the words and suddenly her heart felt clad by an iron fist. There was no mistaking it. At some point last night Castle had seriously considered distancing himself officially from her, the twelfth and the NYPD in general. She almost dropped the paper and glanced around the office as if Castle would step out from his hiding place any moment and yell, "Gotcha!" Kate swallowed the lump that was quickly forming in her throat.

Had he really… was that really what he wanted? She felt tears prick at her eyes. Was that the true reason he had been avoiding her? He wanted to break off their engagement? Because of this bullshit? And what, he was too much of a coward to tell her? Oh my god. Had he flown to DC bright and early in the morning to break up with her in person because only assholes broke up with someone over the phone? Was that why he wasn't at the loft? Didn't answer any of her calls? Beckett reeled from her thoughts spiraling out of control. She had to get a grip on herself! She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, as a lone tear travelled down her cheek.

It just didn't make sense. Why would he want to break up with her? They were happy. They'd been opening up more to each other, sharing thoughts and dreams with each other…things had been going so well lately. Yes, the transition period hadn't been ideal, but everything was going to settle down again soon. They didn't survive DC only to have some lousy reporter and his ridiculous accusations break them apart! It just didn't make any sense at all unless… She read through the text again and cursed out loud. Of course! How could she have been so blind! It was all there in his words. He was trying to distance himself from her and the boys to protect them. That stupid, stupid man! Did he really think she was going to let him act as a lightning rod for everything?

Shaking her head, her eyes caught the phone number on Black Pawn's letterhead. Duh! Why hadn't she thought of that before? If he was with Gina or Paula, both of them would know. Even if he was on his own, she was pretty sure that both women were keeping a tight leash on him in this situation. She quickly dialed Paula's office number but couldn't get through. She hung up and dialed Gina's office, while she headed for the bedroom, already unbuttoning her blouse. Still waiting for Gina, or at least her assistant, to pick up, she opened the door to the bedroom and stopped dead in her tracks. There was a distinctly Castle-shaped lump under the covers on the bed.

Kate ended the call and tossed her phone aside, crossing the room in a few quick strides. Yep. Castle's face was firmly planted into his pillow, his arms bent at odd angles. He looked like a toddler who'd passed out playing with his toys. The tangled sheets were a testament to the rough and restless night he must have had. She smiled and sat down on the edge of the bed, stroking his head gently.

"Kate," she heard him mumbling in his sleep and her smile widened immediately. She leaned forward and gave him a peck on his cheek, where a little patch of skin peeked out from the sheets. He sighed heavily and rubbed his face against the pillow.

"Silly man," she whispered wistfully, "I love you." Without prior warning, he flopped onto his back and for a minute she was afraid she'd woken him up…. until she heard his soft snore, which elicited a small chuckle from her. She should leave him be and let him get some rest; he was going to need it today. With the book launch happening, there was a good chance they'd have to deal with paparazzi all weekend. Kate sighed heavily. This was not at all how they'd planned to spend their weekend off together.

She stroked his head gently and Castle immediately melted into her touch. Beckett couldn't help herself; she longed to comfort him.

"Kate?" His voice was clearer this time and sure enough he blinked a few times drowsily.

"Hey, stud." she bent down and kissed him. "Are you ok?"

"Shouldn't I be asking you that question?" He stretched and propped his body up on his elbows. "You're here on a Friday morning, that can't be a good sign."

"I'm good now that I know you're ok," she bumped their foreheads together. "Rough night?"

Castle nodded and rubbed his nose against hers. He whispered, "I've missed you," before he kissed her again.

"Me, too," Kate mumbled as she withdrew her lips. "What happened? Why aren't you returning my calls?"

"I've unplugged everything." Rick pulled back with a sigh. "I didn't know what to tell you, Kate."

"How about, 'Honey, funny story. There's this lunatic, wanna-be journalist who's out to ruin my reputation. Skip the interview tonight'." She pursed her lips. "Thanks for the warning, Castle. I watched it with my new team in the break room."

He looked absolutely crestfallen. "Oh no! Oh, Kate. I'm so sorry. I know how important your career is to you right now, and all I've been doing lately is put it in jeopardy."

"Castle, no." She reached out and cupped his cheek. "You know that's not true. Sure getting arrested by Metro PD wasn't your finest moment but what happened with Lawson isn't your fault. You were ambushed, Castle."

"I just hate to disappoint you. You've made it pretty clear over the past few weeks that your career comes first at the moment and, let's face it, right now I'm toxic for your career."

"So you thought what? I'd chose my career over you and call off our engagement?" He avoided her eyes and smoothed out the wrinkles in the comforter. "Oh my god!" Beckett reeled back shocked. "You did! You really thought…?" She felt bile rise up her throat and swallowed quickly.

"You were so mad at me after you picked me up from the police station." He pleaded with her. "You gave me the silent treatment for hours."

She shook her head, tears filling her eyes. "How can you even think so little of me? I thought you knew me."

"Kate," he tried to reach out to her but she shrugged off his arm.

"The press release," Beckett whispered.

"Huh?"

"Is that why you wrote the press release? You thought I was going to break up with you, so you drafted a statement officially distancing yourself from me and the boys?"

"You saw that?" Oh crap, she wasn't supposed to see that ever. It was a thought experiment… running on scotch and desperation. "I'm sorry, Kate, I had a moment of weakness."

"A moment of weakness." She looked at him askance, "I don't understand. How can you doubt my love for you, my commitment to us after everything we've been through together?"

"Are you kidding me?" Rick suddenly got angry. "You're the one who keeps making decisions about us without involving me."

"Really?" She narrowed her eyes. "You're bringing that up again? I said I'm sorry. I know I made a mistake. I apologized. We agreed to move on. I thought we were happy in D.C."

"Oh, so you're the only one who's allowed to make mistakes in our relationship now?" He raised his voice.

"What? Don't be stupid!" She threw back at him irritated.

Rick closed his eyes and counted silently until ten. "Can we please not have this conversation until I've had some coffee?"

Kate pushed herself off the mattress and turned to leave, "You know what? Never mind. Since you already think that I'm just going to bolt anyway, why don't I save you the trouble?"

"Wait!" Suddenly he was wide-awake. Castle struggled to get out of the tangled sheets while she had already one foot in the door. "Beckett, wait! Don't leave, please. I didn't mean it like that. I'm sorry, Kate. It was late, I got drunk, and the doubts started haunting me."

"Why do you want to marry me if you think I'll run at the first sign of trouble?" She whirled around and almost crashed into his chest.

"Because I love you, Kate. And I know you love me. But I can't for the life of me figure out why. I'm scared I'll do something stupid and lose you. I don't want to lose you. I can't lose you, Kate. I can't live without you anymore." He reached out tentatively for her hands and when she didn't recoil this time, he clasped his hands around hers. "And I don't really think you'll bolt at the first sign of trouble. You were never supposed to see that. "

"Yeah, well I did." She wiped away fresh tears on her cheeks. "You hurt me, Rick."

"I know." Castle's thumbs appeared suddenly in her line of vision when he gently brushed away the teardrops dancing on her eyelashes. "And I'm so sorry, love."

"Do you have any idea how awful I've felt all night because I haven't heard from you?

Had he any idea? Castle quickly curbed the smile that tugged at the corner of his lips because he knew she wouldn't be amused at all. He only had like five years worth of experiences! How did the shoe fit on the other foot, detective?

"You always complain about me shutting you out but when it comes down to it you're really no better than I am. We can't go on like this, Castle. We're engaged; we're going to get married. We're supposed to be facing the world together as a united front, not regard each other with doubts! We should support each other and figure things out together. And I can't tell you how much it hurts that you're not sure that I'm ready and willing to do this."

"I didn't mean it like that, Kate. I swear. I wasn't thinking clearly. I wasn't thinking, period. I should've never let Paula get into my head."

"What do you mean?"

"It's…" he made a dismissive hand gesture. "Paula suggested I sever ties with the NYPD in light of this scandal since nothing's holding me there now that you've left. Of course, I protested vehemently. I'm not going to throw Ryan and Espo or anyone else from the Twelfth under the bus. But it got me thinking about the other side of the story. It's Paula and Gina's job to protect me, and they thought they could do a better job if I distanced myself from you and the boys. So I started thinking that maybe it might be better for you guys, too, if you distanced yourselves from me. Does that make sense? Maybe we should distance ourselves from each other until it'll all blows over to protect our interests."

"Only when you had a fifth of scotch. Or two," Kate shook her head. Rick smiled. "What makes you think I'd let you throw yourself under a bus for my benefit or anyone else's for that matter?"

"I'm sorry, Kate. It was never about not trusting you." He took her hands in his and stepped even closer. "I guess my insecurities got the better of me."

She looked a little like she'd been slapped. His insecurities. She'd really done a lot more damage to their relationship than either of them was willing to admit out loud. "I wish you would tell me how to dispel your insecurities." Kate rested her head on his shoulder.

"I wish I knew," he sighed and tucked her head underneath his chin, "it's just how I feel right now." She nodded and moved her hands around his neck. "Don't be mad at me, please?"

"I'm not mad at you. Not about that anyway. If that's how you feel right now, then that's what you feel and I have to respect that. I just wish there was something I could do about it. I don't really know what I could say or do that I haven't done already to ease your mind."

"For starters," he leaned a little over and shut the door behind her with his foot, "stay. Don't leave angry. Let's just…" He pulled back and looked around undecided. Then he held out his hand and spoke with more confidence, "Cuddle and talk?"

She smiled and took his hand, letting him lead her back to his bed. Their bed now, she corrected herself quickly. She remembered a stormy night a year ago where their roles had been reversed. Unlike their first night together, however, their clothes stayed on. Instead they spooned together on their bed, engulfed in silence. Kate reached for his left hand and pulled it over her body and up to her chest.

"You could never disappoint me," she whispered and brushed her lips over his knuckles. "You're the only person in my life who's never let me down. You're always there for me; even when I've pushed you away, you've always had my back." She snuggled deeper into his arms and Castle automatically tightened his hold of her.

"That's because I've always loved you." His voice was thick with emotions.

"Have you ever loved someone so much it scares you?" She looked over her shoulder.

"You," he said without missing a beat and rubbed their noses together.

"Good, then when your doubts get the better of you, think of how much you love me because that's how much I love you, too." She smiled and kissed his nose before she turned back again. "Sometimes it scares me how much I need you in my life, how much I've come to depend on you, rely on you to be there for me." She spoke her next words so quietly, Rick had to strain his ears to listen. "Sometimes it feels as if my love for you consumes me." She sighed. "That sounds terribly corny, I know, but even after a year of us dating, I still fall harder for you every day we spend together."

"I'm sorry, Kate, about everything." He pressed his nose into her neck, hugging her tightly.

"Don't be, Castle," she turned around slowly in his arms, "just don't do it again, ok?" They looked deeply into each other's eyes before they shared a sweet kiss. She didn't realize how tense he'd been the whole time until she felt him sigh and his body relax into hers. Kate settled into his arm and laid her head on his chest. They cuddled in silence for a while, feeding off each other's mere presence.

"I'm so glad you're here," he kissed her head.

"So what's our plan?" Her fingers traced the crease patterns on his sleep shirt.

"Dunno," he shrugged his shoulders. "Until you showed up, I was going to mope around in my underwear all day."

Beckett pulled herself all the way up until they were eye to eye, "Yeah, well, we better come up with something quick because I only have until Wednesday to help you sort out this mess."

"You mean you weren't fired?"

"What?" She frowned. "No! Why'd you think that?"

"Because you're here on a Friday morning." He stated as a matter of fact.

"First of all, it's already past noon." Kate informed him. "Second, I got suspended not fired."

"They suspended you?" He shot up outraged.

"Castle, half a minute ago you thought they fired me, you can't be more upset now that they suspended me."

"You shouldn't get punished over this at all."

"I didn't. Rachel suspended me for insubordination." Beckett explained with a slight shoulder shrug, "I guess she wasn't really that cool with the rooftop shooting after all."

"Five days," he looked at her for clarification and she nodded. "But I thought IA cleared you?"

"Rachel's sense of humor," Kate rolled her eyes, "I asked for two vacation days and she got me five days unpaid administrative leave."

"That's like the worst trade-off ever." Castle grimaced. "Remind me to never trade baseball cards with her."

"Coulda been worse." They both thought back to her three-month suspension last summer.

"You really need to stay away from rooftops. They don't seem to agree very well with your professional career." They shared a smirk.

"Seriously, though, what do you want to do?" Kate was determined to get to the bottom of this scandal right away.

"You," he grinned and received a punch into his chest.

"I'm serious, Rick." Beckett snuggled into his arm but slipped her hand under his sleep shirt anyway. "We can't just sit back and let Jeffrey Lawson run off his mouth about you." Her hand roamed his chest and stomach absent-mindedly.

"What do you want me to do, Kate?" Rick kissed her hair, "If I get into a public pissing contest with Lawson, it will only generate more media interest. And it will only get worse if they realize I engage with them. We'd never get rid of them ever again and they'd constantly run stories about us in hopes one of us will respond to their baits. It's best to ignore these things and let Gina and the lawyers handle it."

"So what are Gina and Paula doing about it?"

"We've issued a statement for the press and cancelled all my public appearances until further notice. That's all we can do for now until the meeting with the lawyers on Monday."

Kate wasn't entirely convinced this was the right way to go but who was she to disagree with the experts. "But what about the book launch tomorrow?"

"Oh, the book party is still on," Castle reassured her, "and you'll be relieved to learn that there'll be no press interviews."

"Oh," Beckett scrunched her nose the tiniest bit but Rick caught it anyway. She paused her hand over his chest.

"Isn't that what you wanted in the first place?" He asked her.

"Yeeees," Kate drawled and frowned, a little bit surprised by her own reaction. She'd only agreed to do the interview because she wanted to get the media circus surrounding their engagement out of the way and get on with their lives. This felt different. Paula and Gina had been so all over the engagement to exploit it for his book sales, it left a bitter aftertaste that now they thought their engagement would harm his public image. She didn't care what they thought; she was not going to hide her relationship anymore.

"I thought you'd be relieved?"

"I am but not really," she tried to explain. "I'm so sorry, Castle, for the way I've treated you in DC. I'm starting to understand how awful you must have felt when I tried to hide our relationship because it was inconvenient for me."

"You think…" He furrowed his eyebrows and she continued to stroke his chest soothingly. "Kate, I'm not embarrassed to be seen with you. I'll put an announcement in the New York Ledger right now if that's what you want. I don't care if Paula and Gina think it's inconvenient. When I walk down the red carpet tomorrow night, it'll be with you at my side – unless you're embarrassed to be seen holding hands with me in public."

"Not a chance," Beckett bit her lip and smiled. "Then why cancel the interviews?"

"That had nothing to do with you or us. Gina cancelled all my appearances to minimize my exposure to the media, the interviews at the book party just happened to be part of them. She said I have an exceptional talent for putting my foot in my mouth."

"She does have a point there," Kate chuckled.

"Anyhow." Rick ignored Beckett's jab, "Nobody's interested in Nikki Heat or Derek Storm's adventures right now; all they'd ask about is Jeffrey Lawson or Tessa Horton. Gina would never be able to control the crowd, so it's just easier to avoid the questions for now."

"Okay," she seemed satisfied with his explanation. "But for the records, I am so very proud of you. You're a wonderful writer, an amazing father and the best partner I could've ever hoped for. You know that, right? You're a great man, Richard Castle, and I'd never be embarrassed or disappointed to call you my husband."

He grinned, eating up her every word. "You know I can't wait to marry you."

"Neither can I," she laughed and kissed him.

"We should start making plans for our wedding." He mused and kissed her back.

"Soon," she hummed, grazing his lips with hers, "house first."

"House?" He cocked his head amused. His mind was already spinning images of a nice two-story house with a swing set and a sand box in the yard.

"House, apartment, whatever," she nipped his lower lip, "as long as it's ours."

"Mmm," he mumbled into her kiss, "I like the sound of that."

He rolled them over until he was on top of her. Beckett's hands slipped underneath his shirt again, stroking his back leisurely. Their kisses were passionate but lacking the urgency of their recent reunions. Instead they relished the sweet and tender caresses of their tongues and fingers on their bodies. This wasn't about sexual gratification but the reaffirmation of their love for each other.

"I love you, Kate Beckett." Rick whispered and devoured her lips again.

"Love you, too," she panted breathlessly before she plunged her tongue back into his mouth. He groaned and broke their kiss desperate for air. Beckett felt his hot breath on her flush skin as his lips travelled down her throat.

"I'm the luckiest man on earth to have you in my life." He kissed the sweet spot behind her ear that he knew never failed to draw a moan from her lips.

"What a co-incidence, 'cause you're the best thing that's ever happened to me." She giggled.

Castle stopped his tender ministrations and looked at her amused, "Was that a giggle?"

"Tickles," she defended herself.

"Uh-huh," he grinned and blew behind her ear. Kate shivered and moaned.

"Am I crazy because I missed you so much even though you were only gone for a night?" She rasped breathlessly, trailing her fingertips over his spine.

"No, not crazy," he hummed and smiled, "just crazy in love. I missed you too. Just having you here I know everything's going to be alright."

"How are we ever going to survive your book tour?" She buried her nose in his hair, breathing in his scent. "You've turned me into a sappy, needy girlfriend."

"It's only three weeks. We'll talk everyday." He kissed her soundly. "And I like that I'm the only one you need. It feels good to be needed by you."

"I'll always need you." She rubbed their noses together.

"Yeah?"

"Mhm," she whispered into his ear, "who else is gonna bring me my coffee?"

"Beckett," he whined, "I'm trying to be romantic here. Is it really so bad that you feel you need me?" He asked slightly offended that she would divert into a joke.

Kate bit her lips, searching his eyes as if the answer lay there. It did. "No." She smiled. "Not at all." For the first time since she lost her mother, she didn't feel a minor panic attack coming on at the mere thought of linking her life and happiness with someone else.

"There, was that so hard?" He teased her.

"No," she shook her head still smiling, "I love you, Rick." She poured all her heart and soul into the next kiss. Castle pulled her tighter against his body and Kate moved willingly, draping one leg over his thigh. He groaned and started to stroke a patch of bare skin that peeked out from her half opened blouse with his thumb. Beckett hummed appreciatively and deepened the kiss.

"Richard, wake up!" Martha barged into her son's room, gesticulating wildly with her phone in her hand. "I know you've made your standpoint very clear, kiddo, but I'm not gonna lie to that poor girl…" She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the kissing couple lying on the bed. Castle broke away reluctantly and buried his face into Beckett's neck with a disappointed sigh over their most recent interruption.

"Katherine! Well, that takes care of that problem." Castle's mother noted with a satisfied grin. "I don't suppose you still want me to call you back?"

"Hi, Martha," Beckett rolled her head to the side, so she could make eye contact. She smiled as she greeted her mother in law. "Found him."

"I'll say!" Castle's mother smirked. "Don't stop on my account. Pretend I wasn't even here," Martha turned on her heels to exit with a flourish. "Just keep the volume down so Jim won't have to hear you."

"Wait! What?!" Beckett scrambled upright, pulling her hand out from underneath Rick's T-shirt and gaped at her future mother-in-law. "My dad's here?"

"He's on his way over. I invited him over for a late lunch. He called a few minutes ago to find out what's going on since apparently none of our children are answering their phones anymore." Martha gave them a hard look. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to call Jim back and let him know to bring lunch for four. He'll be thrilled to learn you're here, though, I'm sure."

Rick and Kate just stared shocked at the door, blinking a few times. Then suddenly a flurry of activities broke out as they both jumped out of the bed, racing each other to the bathroom.


	23. Chapter 23

Half an hour later, the couple emerged refreshed and arguing from the study.

"Libel requires written form, slander is oral defamation." Castle huffed and crossed the living room in a few quick strides.

Beckett was hot on his heels. "Not when it's recorded, no. Or taped as in your case," she corrected him. "Google it, if you want, but I assure you that a national broadcast on TV or radio practically substitutes the written medium."

They looked up into the bewildered faces of Jim and Martha who'd followed the end of the argument bemused. Their parents were standing at the kitchen counter unwrapping deli sandwiches and tossing together a salad.

"Ahhh, Jim!" Castle exclaimed, "Just the man we need! You're just in time to settle a dispute between your daughter and me."

"And hello to you, too, Rick." The older man chuckled and wiped his hands off on a kitchen towel. Then he shook hands with his future son-in-law. "It's always great to see you."

"There is no argument. You're wrong and I'm right. End of story." Kate rolled her eyes and leaned over to give her father a quick peck on the cheek. "Hi, dad."

"In your expertise as a lawyer," Castle ignored the Beckett greeting ritual and stressed the last word, which brought an amused smile to Jim's face, "is the defamation coming out of Jeffrey Lawson's mouth slander or libel?"

"Libel, she's right." Jim pulled his daughter into a tight hug. "Hi Katie, how are you?"

Rick gaped at her father slack-jawed. How dare he question his expertise as a master wordsmith and all time scrabble champion at Casa Castle?

"We're fine under the circumstances." Kate admitted. Jim watched pleased as his daughter pulled back to rest her arm around her fiancé's back automatically.

"Of course, you're on her side, she's your daughter." Castle groused and shrugged off Kate's arm.

Jim Beckett cocked his head, "Seriously?"

"But it's verbal!" Rick interjected. He was not going to give up that easily.

Kate just rolled her eyes, all too familiar with her fiancé's obsession with words and terms. She walked over to the fridge to retrieve cold beverages for their lunch.

"As Katie already explained, when a voice is recorded or taped it means it can be documented and submitted like written evidence in court, so it is no longer slander but becomes libel."

"Told ya," Kate turned around with a triumphant grin and stuck her tongue out at her fiancé.

Unfortunately, her father caught it and scolded her sharply, "Katie!"

Beckett's eyebrows shot up startled when her father reprimanded her like he did when she was ten. Martha, who had observed the entire exchange quietly from the sidelines, couldn't help laughing out loud now. Castle snorted, too, and thought it was adorable. He'd just been granted a glimpse into Kate Beckett's rebellious childhood.

"She's always doing that to me! Even on my birthday!" Rick complained.

"And would you like some cheese with that whine?" Jim turned around and fixed the writer with an amused look. "Martha, don't forget to put out some string cheese for little Ricky here."

Castle's mother chuckled and Rick gaped while he saw out of the corner of his eye how Katie almost stuck her tongue out again but caught herself just in time. He narrowed his eyes at his fiancée who gave an innocent shoulder shrug instead.

"Very funny," Castle grumbled and got the plates.

When Kate was about to pass her father with the salad bowl, he pulled his daughter quickly aside into a hug. "You ok?"

"Yeah, just don't engage him, eventually he'll run out of steam." Kate advised her father.

Jim laughed out loud and shook his head. Castle was grumbling to himself as he set the table, muttering words like "slander" and "oral." The Becketts smirked and watched on benignly. "That's good to know but not what I meant."

"Oh, you're talking about the interview?" Kate rolled her eyes. "It's more of a nuisance than a bother." She carried the salad bowl over to the table. When she pulled back, her hand brushed semi-accidentally against Castle's. He looked up with a grin. Jim watched their exchange with a smile.

"How are they really doing?" He glanced at Martha who'd stopped beside him holding the plate with their sandwiches.

"They're fine, Jim." Castle's mother reassured him quickly. "Richard's obviously tremendously upset over what happened but look at them." She nodded at the table where Kate was slipping her arm around Rick's waist just as Castle pulled her in a little closer. His nose brushed her cheek as he leaned in to whisper something in her ear that made her giggle.

"Oh good, you've made up, kids, now go wash your hands." Martha quipped as she breezed from the kitchen into the dining area.

"Very funny," Castle let go of Kate's hips and pulled out the chair for her. They settled around the table for a casual lunch, sharing sandwiches, salad and chips.

"So which one of you would like to tell me what exactly is going on?" Jim raised his eyebrows and looked from his daughter to his future son-in-law and gave him a pointed glare, "I hear you have a mistress now?"

Castle choked and Kate laughed. "Well, technically had. She's dead." She reached over to rub Rick's back. "You ok?"

He nodded and took a long sip of water before he launched into a quick run-down of yesterday's events. Kate listened intently since it was the first time she got to hear the whole story from his point of view. Halfway through she slipped her hand under the table and linked her fingers through his as a supportive gesture. Rick paused in his story for a moment to send her a grateful smile before he recounted the legal steps Black Pawn, NYPD and he considered taking.

"Sounds to me like you were set up," Martha concluded once her son finished.

"So you're planning to sue Lawson?" Jim weighed in.

"That sounds like you're advising me against it," Castle observed.

"No, I just want to make sure you and Katie know what a defamation lawsuit entails. Have you actually talked about it with your lawyers?"

"Not yet, we're having a meeting on Monday."

"What about your book tour?" Martha interjected. He was supposed to leave late Monday morning.

"Delayed until Tuesday. Paula's making arrangements for us to leave in the afternoon."

"The problem with defamation lawsuits is that they're costly and usually hardly worth the trouble."

"What do you mean?" Martha asked him curiously.

"Black Pawn and the NYPD might decide it's not worth it." Jim explained, "There's a good chance that Jeffrey Lawson might get away with a slap on the wrist and ordered to pay a small fine. It's not my field but what I gather from my colleagues, it's usually best to reach a settlement quickly."

"I don't want his money," Castle shook his head, "I want him to publicly apologize for questioning Kate's professionalism and character and accusing Ryan and Espo of sloppy police work."

"Are you willing to risk a protracted trial and have his lawyers put you and Kate on the stand to air your dirty laundry?" Jim countered.

"We didn't do anything wrong, dad."

"Honey, you dated a suspect."

"Dad!"

"I'm just calling a spade a spade."

"I handed over the investigation to Ryan and Esposito." Kate defended herself.

"But you didn't recuse yourself completely. This is the kind of questioning you open yourselves up to if you take it to court. I'm just showing you what a defense lawyer would do."

"I can't let him get away, Jim." Castle sighed. "He went after Kate."

"I know how you feel, Rick. She's my daughter and nothing would make me happier than to see that little rat skewered on a stick."

"When you men are done defending my honor, you can find us women cleaning the kitchen." Kate interjected and winked at her future mother-in-law.

"Sorry, Katie."

"It's not just about me anyway. What he did to you, Castle, was way worse." Kate rubbed the back of Rick's hand softly with her thumb.

"I don't worry about me. That's what I have Paula for. Her PR team can put a positive spin on just about anything. What I'm concerned about is your professional reputation and how this mess might affect Ryan and Espo's careers. Who's gonna look out for them? They'll be the first ones NYPD will throw under the bus to save face."

She didn't retort. After what happened this morning at the office, she knew he spoke the truth. If McCord hadn't intervened, the FBI would've dismissed her in the blink of an eye, too.

"This has set up written all over it," Martha chimed in. "Isn't it strange that this is all coming up now when you're getting engaged and launching a new Nikki Heat?"

"What are you saying, mother," Castle scoffed, "Patterson's behind this because he can't take a little friendly competition anymore? What for? To discourage people from buying my books? I'm a murder mystery writer. If people thought I'd murdered someone, they'd only buy more of my books out of curiosity to see if I dropped hints." He shook his head.

"I'm just saying the timing is suspicious." Martha defended her theory.

"I promise I won't be eating any unsolicited boxes of chocolates, mother." Rick patted his mother's hand reassuringly.

The two Becketts looked at them bewildered.

"Oh," Martha noticed and explained quickly, "a couple of years ago another actress was gunning for my role and sent me chocolate laced with laxatives."

"Oh my god!" The two Beckett's exclaimed shocked. "Did you report her?" Kate inquired.

"All water under the bridge," Martha waved their concern aside.

"You know, Martha might be on to something. Lawson must have planned and prepared this in advance and yet you were invited on the show as a last minute replacement. That doesn't make sense." The younger Beckett pointed out.

"Oh, I don't doubt for a minute that I was being set up. Paula's already looking into it, since I had the same thought last night. The question is just why?"

"Clearly, Lawson has a bone to pick with you, Rick." Jim noticed. "What's your prior history with the man?"

"I'd never even met the guy until yesterday."

"What about people he knows?" Kate interjected. "Did you poach one of his old girlfriends when you were still soaring your wild oats?"

"No!" Castle looked at her funny and glanced nervously at her father. He admitted with a quiet voice, "I already googled his wife, sister and last known ex-girlfriend to make sure."

"What I don't understand is where Lawson gets all of his information? I talked to Javi last night and he says the records haven't been checked out since they've been sealed." Kate scratched her head.

"Wouldn't be the first time someone tampered with the archive's records." Jim threw in.

"Nah, we double checked. I went there with Ryan and Esposito the second time to assure myself." Rick shook his head.

"I don't like where this is going," Kate sighed.

"I don't like the idea that there's a leak at the precinct, either," Castle agreed, "but Gates seems to think so. We'll see what the boys can come up with."

Kate and Rick exchanged a knowing look and sighed heavily. Neither of them wanted to say it out loud but there was one other option.

"What?" Martha raised her eyebrows curiously, picking up immediately on the rising tension in the room.

"Katie, what are you not telling us?" Jim wrapped his hand around his daughter's arm.

"You think it's him?" Kate asked her fiancé, biting her lip.

"I thought you didn't believe me?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "Lawson knows too much. If he didn't have access to the police files, I don't see how someone at the precinct could remember or know so many details."

"But it doesn't make sense. Why would he come back? The whole point of it was to disappear into the night and have people stop looking for him." Rick reasoned.

The sound of breaking glass startled them in their seats. Three heads whipped around to stare at Martha who glared at her son. "You said he was dead."

"Are you okay, Martha?" Jim grasped her shoulder and reached for her wrist to check for cuts.

"Yes," Martha cleared her throat and pulled her hand back, "I'm fine. The glass must have slipped from my hand."

"He is, mother." Rick was already up and comforting his mother. "I emptied half a clip into him. He fell off a bridge into the East River and drowned. Nobody survives that."

"Stop patronizing me, Richard!" Martha bristled with anger. "If you didn't think there was a possibility he's still alive, you wouldn't even entertain the idea that he could be behind all this. The man set you up for murder! He tried to kill you and Katherine. You're still my son!"

"Martha," Kate inserted herself back into the situation and tried to assuage her mother-in-law's fears. "It's not him. Castle's right. It makes no sense at all for him to come back, even if he were alive, which I don't think he is. We were just throwing around ideas. It's what we do. Okay? We play through all possible angles and toss the bad ones. Rick's really good at spouting out crazy, bad theories. This was a very crazy and bad theory obviously but it still had to be checked. Okay?"

Martha nodded slowly but protested, "He was in our home."

"What?" Jim interjected, hearing for the first time about Tyson's invasion of his daughter's home and privacy. As usual Kate had glossed over the details to keep her father from worrying too much. Martha unfortunately knew all about it, since she lived at the loft.

"I know." Kate rubbed her hand gently. "And I'm so very sorry for that. But he's never coming back. He's dead. Besides, we're safe here. Rick's upped the security system. You should know best, considering how many times you've set off the alarm unawares since." Beckett smiled and Martha chuckled.

"I swear Richard uses it to keep tabs on my curfew when I sneak in late from a party."

Castle watched proudly how Kate calmed his mother down and felt slightly guilty for lying to both of them. He'd never shared with his fiancée how Tyson's violation of their privacy had gone far beyond simply standing in their living room. He wanted to spare her the humiliation, so he kept it out of his official statement since they were hiding their relationship anyway.

"Right, mother," Rick smiled as he bent down to pick up the shards, "I'd hate to miss your walks of shame."

"Don't," Kate stopped him with her hand on his shoulder, "you'll cut yourself. I'll get you a brush and dustpan."

A few moments later she returned with the promised items and a handful of paper towels to soak up the spill. They worked quickly together to clean up the mess, while Jim tried to distract Martha.

"Do you think she's all right?" Kate whispered as she tossed the wet kitchen towels into the trash and shut the lid.

"Yeah," Castle sighed. "I keep forgetting that I'll always be her little boy."

"I know; it's why I didn't tell my dad everything. Gonna bite me in the ass now that he knows Tyson broke into the loft."

"You worry he's gonna put his foot down and forbid you to have any more sleep overs here?" He cracked a joke to lighten the mood. She chuckled and they observed their parents' interaction at the table for a minute in silence.

"Maybe it's a good thing we're moving to D.C." Kate glanced at her fiancé.

"Because we'll be away from our parents and Alexis so they can't get caught up in our cases anymore?"

Kate nodded.

"Come here," he pulled her into an embrace and tucked her head underneath his chin. "It's not your fault."

"I brought this into their lives. They wouldn't have to worry about deranged psycho killers coming after them to get to me."

"They'd also be a lot less safer if you weren't in their lives. Your dad might have succumbed to his demons. My mother and I might have died in that bank last year if you hadn't worked to get us out safely. You helped me get Alexis back in one piece and when there was a dirty bomb I was able to send them out of town somewhere safe, too."

Kate sighed and sagged into his arms. "Do you really think it's not him?"

Rick nodded, "I do. Because I am convinced he's still alive, I'm pretty certain it's not him. He must know that we'll pick up his trail and won't rest until he's in the ground if he dares to come after us again. He's not stupid."

"We need to find out Lawson's source," Beckett pulled back and looked at him determined. "Of course, he's going to refer to his reporter's privilege and refuse to disclose his source."

"Maybe we won't need to," Castle had an idea. "Lawson's not going to cooperate with us because he's obviously holding a grudge against me. What we need to do is find the weakest link in his team and lean on them to gather more information first."

"Right, he must have had help from editors, writers, research assistants, interns…" Kate started counting off at the top of her head.

"And I just know where to start," Castle grinned as he pulled out his phone and fired off a quick text to Paula. "There was this young girl Cindy who is an intern on the show. She's a huge fan and a real sweetheart. Paula's got her contact information because I promised her a free, signed copy of Deadly Heat."

"We can pay her a visit and find out how much she knows." Kate agreed.

"Not much, she didn't even know I was coming. But she'll be able to give us the names of the people who work more closely with Lawson, like that Jeremy kid. We can work our way up from there until we get to the bottom of this little scandal."

Castle's phone buzzed with a response from Paula: You're getting MARRIED!

Beckett frowned and Castle laughed nervously. He quickly texted his agent back, why he wanted the girl's address.

"Oh my god," Kate grimaced. "You really used to do that? You slept with your groupies?"

"Not like this." Rick had the decency to blush. "And only a few times. I haven't hooked up with a fan in years. And Paula has never supplied me with their phone numbers. Women usually just slip their business cards into my pocket."

"I shouldn't be surprised. You were signing boobs when we met." Beckett groused. "Tomorrow the only surface your pen will come into contact with better be the paper on the first page of Deadly Heat." She smoothed out the wrinkles in his shirt on his chest.

"You're cute when you're jealous," Castle smiled while his arm snaked around her waist and pulled her closer. He nuzzled her neck and made Kate giggle a little. She tried to escape the ticklish feeling but only succeeded in spinning around her own axis. Castle's hold on her was firm so she let her back fall into his broad chest safely. Her hand glided along his bare arm, pressing it tighter against her abdomen. Rick kissed her cheek and pushed his crotch into her ass, "Don't worry, sweetie, yours is the only inkwell I want to dip my quill in anymore."

Kate felt his hard on and turned around in his arms to breathe into his ear, "Looks like somebody's ready to give me a free refill." She nibbled on his earlobe gently. Rick moaned and kissed her neck. "And I could really use one," she suppressed a groan, "I'm running really low on ink. My last refill was over 24 hours ago. What do you say we get our parents out of our hair and spend the rest of the afternoon writing with your quill."

Now it was Rick's turn to swallow a deep groan as he pressed his erection into her crotch. He looked up from her neck and met the bewildered eyes of his future father-in-law who was standing there, balancing a stack of dishes awkwardly.

"What's the matter, Shakespeare?" Kate pulled back, "Broke your quill already?"

Castle swallowed nervously and just stood there like a deer caught in the headlights. She turned around and froze instantly.

"Dad!" Kate gasped and tried to put some distance between herself and her fiancé. The younger Beckett hung her head in shame a little, silently vowing to kill Castle. Ten years of perfecting the fine art of sneaking boyfriends in and out of her room behind her father's back as a teenager and now she got caught in the kitchen getting frisky with her fiancé?

The doorbell rang and all three of them breathed a sigh of relief. "I'll get it!" They chorused and laughed nervously.

"I'll go," Kate was already getting ready to sprint to the door. Castle tried desperately to keep her in place to hide his boner but she slapped his hands away. Apparently it was everyone fends for himself right now. Traitor. Left behind, Castle stared embarrassed at the ceiling, waiting for his erection to disappear, while Jim placed his stack of dishes on the counter stoically.

"Are you expecting more guests?" He started to make small talk – much to Rick's dismay.

"Errr… no," Castle shook his head, never once glancing at her father. Maybe it wasn't too bad. Maybe he hadn't been there long enough to overhear their innuendo filled flirting. Maybe Jim had only just walked up when he looked up and their conversation hadn't made any sense to him at all?

"Look son, far bet it from me to criticize your behavior in your home, but do you think you could be a gentleman for my sake and wait until I've left before you start dipping your quill into my daughter. Please?"

Ok. No suck luck. Rick blushed and closed his eyes. Apparently he couldn't catch a break with Beckett's father today. The man was like quicksand so he didn't even bother trying to talk himself out of this embarrassing situation.

"While I have absolutely no illusions about my daughter, I don't necessarily want to witness the two of you making my first grandson." Jim continued to torment Castle.

"Oh, no, no, no," Rick spluttered, "we're not, I mean we are but we… I would never…"

Jim waited amused to see how his future son-in-law was going to salvage this conversation. "… ink my daughter?" He finally supplied dryly.

Castle groaned and balled his hands into fists. He straightened with a clenched jaw and looked Kate's father bravely in the eyes. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?" he noted.

"A wee little bit," Kate's father admitted with a lopsided grin, holding up his fingers about an inch apart, "but only because I know how much you love and respect my daughter." He glanced toward Kate who just reached the door.

Rick followed Jim's gaze and smiled wistfully, "She means everything to me."

Beckett's father turned his eye back on his daughter's fiancé. "You make her happy, that's all I care about."

"I promise you I'll take good care of her." Rick reassured him quickly, knowing that was what he'd like to hear from Alexis's boyfriend in this situation. "And I can assure you that Kate will not walk down the aisle pregnant. We haven't even talked about children yet."

"That's never stopped anyone from getting pregnant before a wedding," Beckett's dad mused. "Frankly, I don't care how you two go about starting your family but don't you think that's something you should discuss before the wedding?"

"Of course, and I'll make sure she knows your preferences regarding number and sex of our children when the topic comes up." Castle replied dryly. "Meanwhile I'll do my very best to deliver the requested grandson when the time arrives."

"Excellent," Jim laughed out loud. "Now, if you excuse me, I think I'll get back to my office now and let you entertain your other guests." The men started to make their way back to the entrance area of the loft.

"About tomorrow, shall we come pick you up in the limo?" Castle inquired.

"I think I'll pass."

"Are you sure?" Rick cracked another joke, "I promise I'll keep my hands where you can see them the whole time. My mother will chaperone us."

Beckett's dad laughed out loud again, "Thank you for the offer but I have court all day and will rush home to get changed. Don't be upset if I'm a little late."

"Nah," Rick quickly dismissed Jim's concerns, "if anything I'm a little jealous you'll miss all the boring speeches."

"Oh, and Richard?"

"Yes?"

"Pull up your zipper before you greet your guests." Jim patted his future son-in-law on the shoulder as he passed him on the way to the door and left a puzzled Rick behind.

Castle's jaw dropped as he stared down at his open fly. When had she…? He narrowed his eyes and looked over to his fiancée who was talking to somebody at the door. How'd she managed to pull down his zipper without him noticing it? Little vixen!


	24. Chapter 24

Meanwhile, Kate found two gentlemen waiting on the other side when she opened the door. She gave them a quick once over: They looked familiar and they were dressed like plain clothes detectives.

"Detective Beckett?" the stocky man whose hand had been poised to knock on their door again looked a little surprised to find her here. "What are you doing here?"

"I live here," Kate cocked her head. Suddenly she remembered where she knew them. "Detective Sanchez, right?"

"I thought you'd transferred to D.C?" Sanchez frowned.

"I have, so technically I'm no longer a detective, detective." Kate grinned. "It's Agent Beckett now. Why don't you tell me what brings you here?"

"We're actually here to take Mr. Castle in for questioning." Sanchez' partner stepped forward but Kate blocked the door. She instantly widened her stance and crossed her arms automatically.

"May I see the warrant, please?" Jim Beckett inserted himself into the conversation out of nowhere and almost startled his daughter. "Tell Rick to call his lawyers."

"Dad, it's ok, I've got this," Kate was a little surprised by her father's sudden appearance and the abrupt change in his demeanor. She'd never actually observed either of her parents in court but seeing her dad kick into gear now – just like that – was a little impressive. His face and voice reminded her of the one time her parents had quasi cross-examined her on the couch in the living room after they'd caught her sneaking home at 2 a.m. on a school night.

"Oh no, sir, that won't be necessary. We're not here to arrest anybody." Sanchez tried to quickly defuse the situation, "We'd just like to ask Mr. Castle a few follow-up questions regarding our internal investigation into the shooting of Jerry Tyson," he turned from the older Beckett to the younger one, "and since you already happen to be here, perhaps you wouldn't mind coming down to 1PP for a little talk as well, Agent Beckett?"

"Surely you did not just suggest to my daughter, a decorated law enforcement officer, that she forego her right to legal representation, when being interrogated, in front of her lawyer?" Jim stepped forward. "And let's be clear, Detective Sanchez, you're not here about Jerry Tyson. You're here on a fishing expedition to see if you can make any of Jeffrey Lawson's wild accusations stick so you can throw my daughter and her partner under the bus."

"Perhaps your daughter should've thought about that before she slept with a suspect," the other detective sneered and Beckett lunged. From years of experience, Jim instinctively hooked two fingers into the waistband of his daughter's jeans, tugging her softly back, to keep her in place before she could get into the man's face.

"That's right, Beckett, we know all about your little secret. What, you thought we wouldn't find out? Funny how everybody from your precinct failed to mention in their affidavits that the lead detective on the case liked to spread her legs for the prime suspect." Sanchez' partner continued to rile up Kate.

"Gentlemen, enough already!" Jim Beckett barked and stepped between the tall detective and his daughter.

"What's going on here?" Rick chose this particular moment to find out what the commotion at his front door was all about. "Detectives Clarke and Sanchez! To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit? No wait, let me guess, starts with Jeffrey and ends with Lawson, am I right?" Castle's face dropped when he saw the fire in his fiancée's eyes and the tense looks on the other men's faces. "Seriously, what's going on here?" His tone suddenly became a whole lot more demanding.

"Don't say a word, Rick!" Jim instructed him quickly.

"Am I being arrested?" Castle squeaked nervously, as usual ignoring any instructions he received, which attracted his mother's attention who came rushing to the front door as well.

"Again?!" She quipped. Castle and the Becketts shook their heads 'no' at her and shooed her away before she made things worse.

Sanchez stepped forward and took control of the conversation to smooth over things, "Once again, no one's getting arrested. I apologize for my partner's remarks about your daughter, sir, they were out of line," he cast Clarke an angry glare, "though he does have a point regarding the non-disclosure of – what I assume now," he glanced back and forth between Kate and Rick, "is an ongoing relationship between Detective Beckett and Mr. Castle."

"What remarks?" Castle narrowed his eyes at Clarke. Kate shook her head and mouthed later.

"So let's start over again. We are, in fact, not here about Jeffrey Lawson, counselor. Granted, we've re-opened the investigation into the shooting of Jerry Tyson because of his crusade against Mr. Castle and the NYPD. As a result, we have reviewed all our records from the investigation and checked with the archives to identify who had access to the sealed records."

"Nobody," Beckett interjected and Sanchez nodded.

"Indeed, Detective Beckett you're correct. I suppose you've been in touch with your former team the whole time?" She nodded her head. "Now imagine my surprise when I found out that the records had been sealed a few days after we shut down our investigation. Add to that that nobody's tried to access them since, I do have to wonder how does Jeffrey Lawson know certain details from the shooting on the bridge?"

"Someone from the precinct must have blabbed. Much as it pains me to say," Castle explained but Kate cut him off.

"He thinks it's one of us."

"You can't be serious!" Rick shouted. "Why on earth would I start a smear campaign against myself? Have you been listening to the shit coming out of Lawson's mouth?"

"Yes, we have." Clarke inserted himself back into the conversation, "And not all of it is lies, is it?" He pointed at the engagement ring on Beckett's finger. "So I have to ask, there were three people on the bridge, you two and Jerry Tyson. One is dead, the other two have been secretly in cahoots the whole time. I've looked into your sales numbers for your latest book. Derrick Storm's turned out to be quite the shelf warmer, hasn't he? Perhaps you thought you could boost sales for your next one with a little publicity stunt?"

"By crucifying the woman I love?" Castle yelled enraged. "What possible reason could I have to do that? If I wanted to boost sales for the next Nikki Heat, all I'd have to do is shout from the rooftops that I'm engaged to the real Nikki Heat. Fans would gobble that up so quickly, Black Pawn's presses couldn't print fast enough to meet the demands."

"If neither you nor Detective Beckett have talked, that only leaves a third option. Dead men don't talk, Mr. Castle, and going through your statement again I've noticed some inconsistencies and allusions that Jerry Tyson might still be alive. At the time I paid no heed to your veiled insinuations but I have to ask you now, Mr. Castle, would you care to amend your statement?"

Jim raised his eyebrows and Martha sighed in the background. Kate and Rick exchanged long glances, having a silent conversation.

"Do you think Jerry Tyson might be behind all this?" Castle finally asked Sanchez.

"I don't know, Mr. Castle. That's what I'd like to find out, so I'm asking you. I'm just pursuing every possible angle in my investigation."

"Isn't it the official position of the NYPD that Tyson is dead?"

"Yes, but still Mr. Castle managed to convince his friend the mayor to talk the police commissioner into sealing the Tyson files. Personally. You don't do that on a mere hunch. So, Mr. Castle would you, please, come down to 1PP with us to update your previous statement."

Rick weighed his options and opened his mouth to say yes but Kate's father intercepted him.

"If you go down with them now and walk out of the building accompanied by two plain clothes detectives, the media will have a field day with you, son." Jim warned him. "If it's really necessary for him and my daughter to give their statements at 1PP, I will drive them there personally in a separate car, but perhaps it's possible to conduct your interviews here at the loft? I worry that my clients' co-operation with the police could be construed as an admission of guilt in the eye of the public."

Oh her father was good, Kate had to give him that. She would've never thought about public appearances if she and Rick had simply left the building in the company of two NYPD detectives. Even if some of the paparazzi camping outside their building had recognized the two plainclothes, they had no proof as to where they were going and on what kind of business. Eduardo was probably the most discreet doorman in all of Manhattan and would never talk to the vultures.

Sanchez nodded, "Of course." He looked at his partner who huffed, "I s'ppose."

"Good," Jim nodded and pointed at Sanchez, "and if you don't mind, you'll be asking all the questions, I don't like his attitude."

"Sure," Sanchez nodded eagerly, "and my sincere apologies again."

"It's not me who needs the apology and it's not you who owes my daughter one."

"What remarks?" Castle piped up again as he led the group inside. Kate pulled him aside and promised to fill him in after the detectives left. She knew Rick would show a lot less restraint than her father did, who may have been secretly fuming, standing beside her as the insults were hurled at her, but showed enough composure not to act on his instincts. Castle, on the other hand, would probably tackle Clarke and clock him in the face or at least demand a duel to defend her honor. There were after all real swords in his office.

They opted for the living room over the study, hoping the open space and casual setting would help keep tempers even. Kate's father called his associate to let him know that he had to fill in for him in court this afternoon. Martha sent Jim a grateful look. He'd decided to sit in on the interview to see where it was going and so he could step in the minute he didn't like the direction it was going, too. He hadn't really handled any criminal law cases since his wife was murdered but his knowledge should suffice for now and he could always end the interview and get his daughter and future son-in-law better attorneys.

Clarke pulled out a folder from his briefcase and handed it over to his partner. Sanchez glanced over the documents, "In your previous statement, you weren't able to provide us with too many details about the shooting."

Castle nodded, "My memories were a little bit hazy. It all happened too fast."

"We've used Detective Beckett's statement to fill the gaps in yours, so if you don't mind we'd like to go over your account again and see if your memories have become clearer."

"They have actually." Rick nodded. "I used a notebook to write them down as they came back. You're welcome to take a look at it if you want."

"That's great." Sanchez nodded. "Detective, feel free to jump in if you disagree with your fiancé's description of events."

"If at any point during this interview we get the impression that you're in cahoots, we'll end this informal interview and question you separately down at 1PP." Clarke clarified.

"Of course, but we've got nothing to hide. Everything happened the way we've previously described. Our stories won't change."

"Good, then let's start on the bridge after you left the abandoned warehouse. You said before you didn't notice anyone following you, is that still correct?"

"Yes, but I wasn't really paying attention. She was driving and I was in the passenger seat. I was still a little overwhelmed by everything that had happened to me over the last twenty-four hours. We were talking about the case and Tyson. Beckett had to stop because the bridge went up to let a ship pass. I remember I thanked Detective Beckett for her faith in me, that's when Tyson rammed our car."

"What happened next?"

"He tried to run us off the road or at least to the end of the bridge. Suddenly we stood still and Kate told me to duck. So I did. That's when he opened fire on us." He glanced at Kate and smiled. One of the few times he'd actually followed her orders. "She must have unfastened her seatbelt because next thing I know she got out of the car with her gun drawn. I couldn't really turn around because I was still wearing my seatbelt but I heard multiple shots. I can't tell you who fired how many but suddenly there was silence again."

"You couldn't see anything through the rearview mirror?"

Rick shook his head. "I kept my head down since I was actually looking for Beckett's back up. I had hoped she'd pulled it out before she left the car but she hadn't. All I found was a spare magazine. That meant I was a sitting duck inside the car. I assumed Kate was down because if she'd hit and subdued Tyson she would've let me known by now. I realized I had to get out before he could sneak up on me.

That's when I heard him taunt me. 'Castle, I got your girl,' he sing-songed." And Rick's imitation was so dead-on it sent shivers down the spines of the other occupants of the room. Kate glanced worriedly at her father who was hearing the details for the first time.

"That's when I knew I had to do something. I snuck out the driver's side and cowered while I heard Tyson approach on the other side. He was so focused on the passenger seat, he never saw me crawl to the back of the car. He kept taunting me, telling me that he was going to kill Kate and make me watch it. Then he was going to kill me. I searched for something I could use as a weapon to hit him with and that's when I saw Kate's gun next to the tire. I picked it up, rounded the trunk, aimed at Tyson and called out, 'Over here.' The minute he turned around, I emptied the rest of the magazine into him."

Sanchez and Clarke sent each other knowing looks and nodded slowly.

"What? It was self-defense, if I hadn't shot first, he would've put a bullet through Kate's stomach before I had a chance to."

"No, Mr. Castle. We're not rethinking our ruling." Sanchez leaned forward and explained, "The last time we interviewed you, you couldn't remember how you got Detective Beckett's gun or how many times you fired her gun."

"Seven," Rick replied immediately, "but I know that from the ballistics report, not from memory. I pulled the trigger until no more bullets came out."

"But you do remember taking aim?"

"Yes," Castle nodded and patted his chest right below his right clavicle. "The first round hit him here, the next few straight into the middle." Rick rubbed his sternum to show where the remaining entry wounds would've been if they'd found a body.

"You didn't aim for his head?" Clarke dug a little deeper.

"No, god no!" Castle choked up a little bit and glanced at Kate.

"How can you be so sure?" The detective continued.

"Because his head was too close to Kate's. I'm a good shot but I'd never take such a risk."

Sanchez and Clarke nodded and jotted down a few notes on their notepads. "Detective Beckett, could Jerry Tyson have worn a bullet proof vest? You were standing closest to him."

"I didn't see or feel anything but it is possible." Kate conceded. "I wasn't really paying attention to that."

"In your opinion, Mr. Castle, did you lethally wound Jerry Tyson?"

Rick licked his lips and glanced at Kate again before he shook his head no. "I think 3XK planned the showdown on the bridge far in advance and prepared for the shooting. He wanted me to shoot him so he could disappear into the night while everyone thought he was dead."

"How so? He couldn't have known you'd be on the bridge at that particular moment."

"No of course not, but he certainly could have and probably did continue to follow me and Detective Beckett around. The bridge was the only route back to Manhattan."

"You mean after you escaped from jail." Clarke clarified.

"Look, I did what I had to do to survive. When the Triple Killer sneaks into a police precinct full of seasoned cops without anyone noticing, you tend to lose your faith in the system. He told me he had people waiting for me in the tombs. Your people could've never protected me – and that's not even taking into account that he could've bribed a dirty guard." Castle defended himself.

"Even if 3XK trailed you to the abandoned warehouse, how could he have known that the bridge would be up?"

"Have you tried to follow up with harbor patrol about that ship passing through which prompted the draw of the bridge?" Castle raised his eyebrows. "If you did, you would know there never was a ship. I talked to the worker in charge that night and he explained that something must have interfered with the system. Co-incidence? I say not. You may guess three times who sent the signal to lift the bridge. It's all in my notes."

"Tyson did something unusual," Kate recalled another detail, "he fell back into the car, pretending I had wounded him. I stopped shooting and walked up to the car. He pushed the door open and knocked me down. That's how he overpowered me. He could've just returned the fire and killed me, instead he used a ruse to hold me hostage."

"He wanted to kill you in front of Mr. Castle's eyes. He wanted him to watch and suffer helplessly," Detective Sanchez reasoned.

"That's what I think, too, but I just realized something. Tyson let go of me almost immediately when the first bullet hit him. He jerked back violently; he never squeezed the trigger on my waist. Granted it could have been the impact but I think his hand might have even come off me a few seconds before Castle fired the shot. He jerked his head back and pulled away… It was as if he wanted to present Castle with a specific target. I didn't think much of it back then but now it makes me wonder why he stumbled back so quickly and never even tried to regain balance. It was as if he wanted to fall off that bridge. He could've held onto me and taken me with him but he didn't." Kate looked up and saw the pained expression on her father's face and Martha looked a little green around the gills.

"Think about it," Castle picked up the story, "it's the perfect disappearing act. The man was shot multiple times, fell off a bridge at a height where the impact on the water surface equals that of concrete and then drowns in the river. That's the definition of overkill. With everyone assuming that he's dead, he can go about his merry business. Nobody will suspect 3XK because he's officially dead, even if the MO were identical. Everyone will think it's a copycat."

"So you had the files sealed," Clarke noted impressed. "If a body turns up with identical marks suggesting similar MO, you'll know it can't be a copycat because details were never released to the public and media."

Rick nodded, "It seemed the best solution under the circumstances. He might get away with a few murders but eventually some law enforcement officer will notice the similar MOs and put two and two together and request the 3XK files to look for copycats or possible partners. That's when the noose tightens around Tyson's neck."

"Both you and Detective Beckett have pointed out that the doppelganger Tyson hired to impersonate you at the jewelry store fits 3XK's habit of using a partner. Why do you think he chose Jeffrey Lawson?" Clarke asked.

"I don't think Tyson is Lawson's source." Rick retorted. "It wouldn't make sense. The whole purpose of staging the shoot out on the bridge was to disappear so he could start killing again. Drawing this kind of unnecessary attention to himself would be counterproductive to his plans."

"Maybe you're underestimating the grudge he's holding against you. Maybe he wants you dead after all? Or at least see your reputation in shambles?" Sanchez pointed out.

"While that is a possibility, I still think it's unlikely." Castle was not yet convinced. "Let's assume he did provide Lawson with information about it. He must have known that the accusations eventually wouldn't stick."

"You wouldn't be the first innocent man to die in prison." Clarke pointed out. "You almost found that out first hand."

Rick shook his head, "And then what? It's over. He doesn't get to toy with me anymore. It's far more pleasurable for Tyson to know that I know that he might still be out there and killing again. He gets off on my fear and guilt that one day he could walk back into my life unannounced. Any day. But he must also know that next time he comes after my children, my mother or my wife, I will hunt him down and will not rest until I put him down like the sick dog that he is." Castle seethed.

"Castle!" Kate exclaimed shocked. She knew Rick had this darker side to him ever since she let him torture the suspect to get the location of Alexis but it still made her hair stand on end.

"Rick!" Jim warned him to express such desires in front of the police.

"Richard!" Martha shook her head disapprovingly, too.

Clarke actually grinned, "Think I might look the other way if that particular case crossed my desk."

"So what are you going to do?" Castle wanted to know.

"Keep looking for the leak." Sanchez shrugged his shoulders. "In light of the accusations brought against NYPD, 1PP ordered a case review but I don't think their official position on 3XK will change."

"So you're not going to pursue 3XK as a fugitive?" Beckett clarified.

"Doubtful. We're going to update his file with the information we got from you today but that's all we can do. The big guns don't like to admit we might have made a mistake. Least of all, they want the public to know that a serial killer we all thought had been apprehended might still be on the loose. We'll flag his file, though, so that every time someone pulls any of his records or just makes an inquiry, we'll get a notification." Clarke shook his head then turned to Castle, "Would it be possible to take a look at your notes?"

"Of course," Rick nodded eager to help and disappeared into his study.

"As for Lawson, that's up to the lawyers," Sanchez continued. "We've dotted every i and crossed all our ts in this investigation as we were asked to do, and while our records need to reflect that Detective Beckett and Mr. Castle omitted the true nature of their relationship, they technically didn't lie, since we never asked. Taking into account the timing, which establishes that the relationship predated the investigation, I think the accusation that Detective Beckett slept with a suspect might be a bit misleading. It just so happened that her partner-turned-lover became the prime suspect in their own investigation, especially because he was set up. Under these circumstances I consider Detective Beckett's behavior more as an act of questionable judgment than criminal intent, so it should be punished accordingly. However, since Detective Beckett has already left the force, disciplinary punishment would be rather difficult to enforce retroactively, so I think Detective Beckett will count her blessings and thank her lucky stars she got off with a slap on the wrist this time."

Castle returned with two medium-sized Moleskin notebooks. "It's actually three notebooks. I kept a note of everything about the investigation, memories, lab reports, test results, witness statements. I can't find the third one right now, but these two have all the essential notes. I must have taken the other one with me to D.C. and left it in the hotel."

"I'll look for it on Wednesday when I fly back and have it sent to you," Kate promised.

"Thank you," Clarke accepted the black notebooks from the writer and exchanged cards with Kate. "I'll have them returned to you once we've made copies. Would you rather have them shipped to your address in D.C. or the loft here?"

"Loft would be perfect," Castle replied, "we don't have a permanent address in D.C. yet."

The detectives thanked them once again for their co-operation before they said their good-byes.

"Wow," Kate let out a shaky breath and fell back into the couch, "I knew they'd come to talk to us eventually but I didn't expect them so soon."

"1PP must be worried if they're sending out their bloodhounds so early." Castle observed.

"Okay, kids, I really need to get back to the office now. Call me if they come back or they send someone else to harass you. I'll slap them with so many court orders and complaints, they'll spend Christmas still filing paperwork."

"Thank you, Jim." Castle was truly grateful. "If nothing else, I would've walked out with them, thinking none of it, and fuelled rumors about my involvement."

"Don't mention it, son." Jim Beckett patted his shoulders before he leaned over the back of the couch to kiss his daughter on her head through her hair. "Bye, sweetheart, be careful."

"Don't worry, dad," Kate turned around and smiled at her father. She was going to add that as a cop she was always careful but the strange look on her father's face made her frown. It had that distinct paternal, 'You didn't think you'd get away with that?' ring to it. Somehow she didn't think the last comment was about the Lawson scandal. Was that…? She strained her ears to listen. Was her father humming?

While Castle and Beckett watched Jim's retreating form confused, Martha recognized the tune immediately and burst out laughing. As Kate's father bent to pick up his briefcase, he raised his voice to sing quietly, "Your life, little girl, is an empty page that men will want to write on."

"DAD!" Kate jumped off the couch shocked. Her father completely ignored her protest and stuck his head together with her future mother-in-law. The two of them chuckled and hummed their way through the rest of the song as she walked him to the door. All Castle and Beckett could do was watched their parents in utter disbelief.

"This is bad," Rick commented.

"Yep," Kate stressed the final consonant, "they've been in cahoots this whole time."

"Yep," Castle looked at his fiancée, "I don't like this one bit. If we don't watch out, we'll spend every Thanksgiving and Christmas at their mercy."

They exchanged worried glances and Beckett groaned, "We're toast. We're never gonna hear the end of it. I liked it better when they were arguing." The couple watched their parents hug and kiss good-bye at the door.

"Sex is off the table now, isn't it?" Rick asked quietly, his eyes still trained on their parents at the door.

"Oh most definitely," Kate huffed and looked around the loft searching for her phone.

"What I thought," Castle sighed and stuffed his hands in his pocket. "For the record, you started it."

Beckett stopped looking for a moment and smiled at her fiancé patronizingly, "Oh Castle, twice divorced and still you don't know that it's always the man's fault."

"How can it be my fault when you came on to me?" He defended himself. "Wasn't my nimble fingers that lowered zippers sneakily and without warning."

Kate cocked her head and stalked over to him like a woman on a mission. Castle swallowed and backed away slowly. She declared confidently, "Well, it certainly ain't my fault that you're so damn cute and irresistible."

Rick gave a bashful smile and tilted his head sheepishly as he bumped into a piece of furniture that cut off his escape route.

"Tell me how on earth am I supposed to keep my hands to myself," She came to a stop in front of him, her face only inches away from his, and reached out as if to touch him, "when you're the only person in the world who can give me exactly what I need?"

"Kate," he squeaked before he quickly cleared his throat, "parents!" He flicked his eyes to the door to remind her.

"I know," she dismissed his concern and reached behind him to grab her cell. "I meant my phone. I want to call Lanie and see if she's got time to go dress shopping and possibly get wasted so I can permanently erase my embarrassing memories of my father walking in on us in the kitchen and torturing us with it."

Castle's jaw dropped to the floor shocked.

"What? You thought I was talking about something else?" She smirked.

"You're a cock tease, Katherine Beckett." He spluttered, "Coming on to me like that. Again! False advertising is what that is."

"I never made any promises," Kate trailed off as she saw the alert on her display. "Oh, a text from Espo."

"What's it say?" Rick's curiosity was piqued.

She held up the phone for him to read along, "BOLO on Sanchez & Clarke. Tricked Ryan + me into spilling the beans about u, so expect them soon. Sry."

Castle and Beckett looked at each other and started laughing hysterically.


	25. Chapter 25

"Hey," Beckett kicked off her high heels and traipsed into the study where Rick was staring at the TV. He was already in his sleepwear and robe.

"Hi," he smiled and muted the TV as he let his head fall back against the rest. Kate leaned over from behind him and kissed him on the forehead. "You and Lanie have fun?"

"Mhm," Kate giggled and slipped her hands over his shoulders and stroked his chest. "Somehow we got distracted from our little impromptu shopping spree, though, and got stranded in a bar. We'll have to go back and find us dresses for the party tomorrow."

"Beckett, are you drunk?" Castle cocked his head to the side and looked at her amused.

"Nooo," Kate shook her head slowly before she nuzzled his neck.

Rick laughed out loud and nudged her head with his. "Let me guess, Lanie's revenge for skipping town before you two had a chance to properly celebrate your engagement?"

"Mhm," Kate nodded and closed her eyes with a sigh, "There may have been shots involved." Her body slumped against his exhausted as she draped herself on the armrest and Castle pulled her into his lap.

"Tequila?" He guessed and placed a kiss on her temple.

"Kamikaze," Kate groaned and cuddled into her fiancé's arms.

"Gotta love her sense of humor." Rick smiled into Kate's hair.

"Are you saying marrying you is a suicide mission?"

"You okay, sweetheart?" He ran his fingers gently through her hair.

"Mhm, just tired." She opened her eyes and looked at him with pure love. "I didn't sleep well last night, I missed you."

"Missed you, too," he kissed her lips and then licked his, "mmm, do I detect a hint of Dirty Nipples in there?" He gave her a cocky grin and stroked her sides sensually.

"No," she savored his slow kiss and mumbled against his lips, "but I think I've got a little room left for a Cum Shot." She let her fingers trail down the lapel of his robe.

"Are we still talking cocktails?" Rick grinned and kissed his fiancée fiercely.

"No," Kate breathed against his lips, already straddling him. Castle's hand framed her neck as his lips descended down her throat. Beckett moaned and slowly opened the belt of his robe.

"You're gonna need more than a little room left then," Rick mumbled.

"Mmmmartha?" Kate moaned.

"Upstairs in her room," he reassured her quickly that they were alone, "still sulking about 3XK."

"Perfect," Kate purred as her hand continued its descent into his shorts. He was already hard and ready. She realized that came out wrong and quickly added, "She'll get over it."

The phone rang, interrupting their moment.

"Let it ring," she whispered as she stroked him slowly. Castle honored her request and continued to neck her. His lips teased her favorite spot right below her right ear while his hands palmed her breasts through her dress. After a while they grew frustrated with the incessant ringing of the phone and Kate sighed exasperatedly.

"You better take this," she reasoned but couldn't bring herself to stop kissing his neck, "must be important if they're so relentless."

"Could be reporters, I better turn it off completely," Castle groaned and reached for his phone, "actually it's Gina." He showed her the display.

"She'd better have a very good reason for calling you so late," Beckett complained as she pulled her hand out of his pants.

"It's a business call," Rick laughed out loud, "Trust me, with her it's always all about business. Even when I shared a bed with her."

"TMI!" Kate slapped his chest before she snuggled into it to watch the news with the closed captioning on. Castle accepted the call and immediately exposed himself to a barrage from his ex-wife. Gina was clearly not a happy camper; even Beckett could hear her muffled voice. Rick tried to interject monosyllabic answers to questions Gina had apparently meant to be purely rhetorical anyway. Fine. His hand wandered absentmindedly down to his fiancée's legs and stroked her thighs leisurely as he listened to his ex-wife's complaints. When Kate felt him tense beside her, she reciprocated with soothing rubs across his chest.

Beckett rolled her eyes when the news anchor switched to Kristina Cottera for the society gossip. As expected the picture insert of her fiancé popped up immediately, right next to the TV host's head. Kate gagged a little at seeing the two faces so close together but at least it was better than her boobs in his face. Of course, the woman would have to weigh in with her personal experience, having dated the famous Richard Castle once herself. Beckett rolled her eyes again and glanced at her fiancé. Rick was now completely focused on the phone call and not paying any attention to the screen. Whatever news Gina called with, Kate could tell they didn't sit well with Castle and worried him. And of course, Kristina Cottera had to throw in what a magnificent kisser Richard Castle was. What did that have to do with anything? How was that even relevant to the story about a witness coming forward showing Richard Castle's pattern for wrongfully accusing other people. Wait, what? Beckett frowned and blinked hard when she read the closed captions. What the heck?

"Castle?" She tugged at his sleeve to get his attention and nodded her head at the TV where now a middle-aged hippie was interviewed on screen. "Did you accuse this guy of being a serial killer?"

Rick glanced at the screen and groaned, his eyes widening with recognition. "Gina, I gotta go. Heads up, Alexis' arts teacher just sold his story to WHNY's eleven o'clock news."

Kate's head snapped up, "You accused your daughter's arts teacher of being a serial killer?"

Castle winced because Gina was probably yelling at him on the phone. "I apologized to the man and we used our combined connections to get him a showing at that gallery in the village. You'd think he'd be a little more grateful," Castle muttered. "I'm hanging up now. We'll talk tomorrow about the book tour and see what you can do to prevent everyone and their mother from creeping out of the woodwork with stories about me."

He ended the call and met with Beckett's incredulous glare.

"He looked just like the guy from America's Most Wanted," Rick explained. "It was eight years ago! I can't believe the man's still holding a grudge against me."

Kate shook her head amused, "Only you, Castle. What did you do? Call the FBI?"

"Something of the kind. Alexis wouldn't talk to me for weeks after that, threatened to move to LA to live with her mother."

"How old was she?"

"About ten. She was so mortified; she wanted to switch schools. Good thing she's in Costa Rica, she'd be so embarrassed by all of this."

"Aw, c'mere," she pulled his head closer and ran her fingers through his hair. Castle followed her invitation willingly and let his forehead rest on hers. "Listen, Lanie and I talked about what's going on and originally I wasn't going to say anything because it isn't my place but she encouraged me to…"

"Honey, don't be stupid," he interrupted her, "your opinion always counts. And what's that nonsense about it not being your place to say anything? You're going to be my wife, you've got a say in everything that affects us."

"Right, but this isn't really about us. Well, it kind of is, but it's really about you. I know Paula and Gina are very good at their jobs, but I can't help but wonder if they're wrong this time."

"About what?"

"You," she shrugged her shoulders, "I respect your decision to refuse engaging with the media out of principle but it hurts me that all they print about you are defamation and lies."

"Kate, I'm a big boy; I can take it. You know the truth, and so do the people I care about. We released a statement to the press this morning, that's all we can do for now. Anything else will make things only worse."

"I know," she sighed, "but you can't tell me none of this affects you. Because I see how it bothers you."

"Of course it does but as long as I've got you, I don't care." He kissed her soundly. "This is what's important to me right now. Am I angry? Hurt? Disappointed? Of course! But everything becomes more bearable with you at my side."

"I can feel how tense you are from Gina's call," she rubbed his arms. "What happened?"

"Nothing just some idiots cancelling their attendance for tomorrow's party. We've had three requests from bookstores today to postpone the meet the author events at the end of the week. They're worried that either nobody will come or that everyone will storm the stores and they'll have to hire extra security. Paula's still sorting that out and it could be that we postpone the book tour by a week or two." He sighed. "I can't even be angry at them, those are legitimate concerns. I'd never forgive myself if someone got hurt by the mob at a book signing of mine."

"Are you afraid Black Pawn will pull Nikki Heat?"

"I don't know. Gina said her new boss was very supportive of the series despite everything that happened. Paula's ironing out the details for a contract extension, locking in a deal for two more books. So far nobody's put the negotiations on ice."

"I think they're wrong," Kate blurted out. "I think you should go out there and tell your story. It isn't right that people hear from Alexis' sixth grade teacher and not you. Just leave out the part about 3XK still being alive because that will make you look desperate and delusional."

"What if they ask me questions about us?"

"So what?" Kate shrugged, "After tomorrow everyone will know anyway. I'm not embarrassed to be associated with you, Castle. On the contrary, I'm quite proud I've reeled in the white wale."

Rick smirked, "That still nags at you, huh?" He would've loved to see Kate's face at that party when the socialite compared him to Moby Dick for the first time.

"I'm proud of you, Rick. You know that, right?" She looked him deeply in the eyes. "Lawson doesn't change anything. I came back to New York to stand beside you and support you through this trial because I love you and I'm so very proud to call you my fiancé."

He swallowed hard. "I love you, too, Kate. So very much. And I'm so proud and honored to have you for my future wife." He kissed her passionately. "Are you sure, though? I don't want to hurt your career anymore than I already might have. I want the FBI to know how amazing you are."

"Castle, people will keep digging into Lawson's accusation. I mean even Alexis' old teacher crawled out of the woodwork. They'll find out the truth about us anyway, only they'll twist it and taint it to make our love look like something tacky and sleazy. Wouldn't it be better if the truth came from you?"

"What if it blows up in our faces? Once it's out there, we can't control it. They can still sensationalize our romance to make it look like an affair straight out of Basic Instinct."

"But at least we'd be able to control when, where and how the information is released." Beckett reasoned. "The longer you wait, the more it will look like you tried to hide something when someone else leaks the truth. And we don't have to hide anything. We didn't do anything wrong. I will not apologize for trusting my partner and having faith in the man I love. Besides, I would have done the same thing for Javi or Ryan."

"We didn't exactly do it right, either, now did we? I don't want you to lose your job."

"Granger already knows everything."

"Even that we were involved while I was under investigation?"

"Mhm," Kate nodded, "he wasn't thrilled but he didn't fire me right away, either. Maybe you can talk to Paula and Gina about a way to disclose our relationship in a non-sensationalist way."

"Well, we can certainly have our fun tomorrow on the red carpet and see how long it takes the paparazzi to notice your engagement ring."

Kate sighed and cuddled with her fiancé, pulling Rick's arm over her shoulder, "I wish Jameson Rook was real. He's a man with journalistic integrity; he'd print the truth without adding his personal spin to sell more papers. He'd know our real story is so much more extraordinary than any of the speculation by Lawson and the yellow press could ever be." She played with his hand, interlacing their fingers, admiring her engagement ring, imagining what their hands will look like entwined one day with matching wedding bands.

"I love you," Beckett whispered and turned her head to kiss her future husband. She caught him gazing into the distance with that look on his face she knew all too well. He was concocting a plan. She kissed his neck and startled him out of his reverie.

"Huh?" He raised his eyebrows at her.

Kate smiled and scratched the scruff on his chin, "Come to bed with me, Rick, it can wait till morning."


	26. Chapter 26

The first sunrays filtered through the thick drapes and tickled Kate’s nose. She blinked a few times before her eyes adjusted to the soft warm glow their bedroom was bathed in. Their bedroom. She smiled and rolled over to cuddle with her fiancé while she woke up slowly. Disappointment settled in quickly, however, when her arms hugged his cold pillow instead of his warm body.

Drowsily she propped herself up on her elbows, peeking through the bookshelves in search of her future husband.

“Oh what a beautiful morning,” Castle quipped and startled her a little bit with his gruff voice when he returned from the bathroom. The sheets had slid off her body and he could see her rosy nipples popping out of her perky breasts. He was stark naked himself and Kate’s eyes lingered on his beautiful penis. She made a come hither gesture with her finger and Rick followed her invitation willingly. She licked her lips as he crawled back into bed with her, getting hard already.

“Oh what a beautiful day,” Kate finished for him as she reached between his legs to fondle him. Their good morning kiss was slow and tender, as their passion awakened from slumber, too. Castle pushed her gently back into the pillows while she spread her legs eagerly for him.

The sound of a phone ringing mixed into their heavy moans and loud gasps. Rick growled irritated and was about to pull back when Kate cupped his nape to hold him in place. “Don’t,” she trailed hot kisses down his throat, “just let it ring.”

Castle propped himself up on one arm and let his other hand glide slowly over her curves. Kate writhed under his touch when his fingers reached her pussy. She stroked him to a full erection until he started leaking. Their lovemaking was quiet and sensual this morning because they indulged in languid, deep, erotic kisses. When his phone interrupted them again, however, it shattered the romantic mood instantly.

Rick growled frustrated and Kate whispered in between kisses, “Just ignore it.”

“I can’t,” Castle sighed as he reached for his cell on the nightstand, “let me put it on silent real quick.” He flipped the switch and groaned when he saw the caller ID. “It’s Gina.

“She can leave a message,” Beckett tried to tug his head back down for more kissing but he resisted. “Richard Castle, you’re not seriously considering answering a call from your ex-wife while I’m trying to have sex with you.”

“I was just gonna…” he swallowed hard when he saw the ire in her eyes, “tell her real quick that I’ll call her back later so she’ll leave us alone and we can go back…” His head started to shake no, subconsciously mimicking the disbelieving shake of her head.

With a practiced move she usually reserved for her sparing sessions, she rolled them over until he lay flat on his back. Rick yelped surprised and dropped the phone.

“You need to set up firm boundaries with your ex-wives.” She growled as she straddled him. “They can’t come waltzing into our life whenever they please, expecting you to be at their beck and call.” As if on cue the phone started vibrating in the sheets.

“I’m not!” He protested.

“Then don’t take that call!” She warned him.

“Or else?” He taunted her.

Kate’s eyes danced with mischief, “Or we’ll find out how well you can follow a conversation while you get a blowjob.”

Rick’s jaw dropped. “You wouldn’t dare!”

“Try me,” she enunciated every syllable before she ran the tip of her tongue down his throat to give him a little foretaste. Castle grunted and bucked his hips as pay back. She gasped out loud, feeling his erection slide through her lips, but didn’t allow him to distract her. Kate created a wet trail of kisses from his neck over his chest, following the thin hairline all the way to his pubic bone.

He’d always had his suspicions, ever since he’d started shadowing her actually, that the prim and proper Detective Beckett was just an act she put on for the precinct. And when they’d gotten together, he quickly found out what a little wildcat Katherine Beckett could be in bed. Still, he had his doubts she’d follow through on her threat. She was naughty but not that dirty.

“Oh yeah?” He called her bluff and held up his phone, his thumb hovering over the green button on the screen.

“Watch me,” she glanced up from his crotch before her tongue slid over his member.

Castle drew in a sharp breath and balled his fists. “Oh shit,” he spluttered when he realized he’d accidentally accepted Gina’s call.

Kate looked up startled, “What’s wrong?” She mumbled – his tip cradled in her tongue.

“It was an accident,” Rick mouthed and pointed at the phone, swiping his thumb over his display to show her how he had unintentionally answered his phone when his fingers had tightened reflexively.

“Why are you ignoring my calls, Rick?” His ex-wife yelled at him on the other end of the line so he had to hold it away from his ear.

“Good morning, sunshine, I’m really sorry I woke you up before sunrise.” Castle replied sarcastically, “I’m doing great, though, thank you so much for asking. How are you?”

“What the hell Richard? When were you going to tell me the police were at your loft to question you?”

Castle sat upright in bed, “How do you know the police was here?” He exchanged worried looks with Kate, who sighed and let go of his member. Gina was so agitated, even Beckett could hear her loud voice as she reamed Rick out for not telling her about the visit from the detectives. Kate realized Castle wouldn’t be able to put her off as easily as he’d planned.

“Tell her to stop calling us so early in the morning.” Beckett muttered as she pressed a kiss on Rick’s neck before she slipped out of bed.

“What was that?” Gina thought she’d heard another voice in the background.

“Nothing,” Rick quickly replied. He was so not getting into another turf war between his fiancée and an ex-wife.

“It’s front page news, Richard! You know how much I hate getting blindsided like this! How am I supposed to do damage control if you don’t tell me what’s going on in your life? Do you get a kick out of making my life difficult? I should be planning your book party tonight, instead I’m cleaning up your messes after you as usual.”

Castle listened to his Gina’s rant while his eyes followed Kate. She swayed her ass for him provocatively and threw him a smoky look over her shoulder. Rick felt validated even as his cock surged in response when she licked her thumb clean. Like he thought. She was only posturing. The triumphant grin on his face gave Beckett pause before she disappeared into the bathroom. The bastard thought she was forfeiting! Just you wait, Richard Castle, she hummed as her eyes fell onto the bottle of mouthwash next to the sink. She formed a mean plan to teach him a valuable life lesson.

“We’re not changing venues,” Castle spoke into his phone when Kate emerged from the bathroom a while later. “End of story.” He swallowed hard when he saw the fiery look in his fiancée’s eyes as she sashayed back to bed, lithe as a cat. A very sexy wildcat. Rick quickly shook his head no, begging her silently to stop. Well, preferably not even start.

Beckett merely raised her eyebrows and licked her lips seductively as she crawled over the mattress. She glanced at his crotch where his erection was still or again standing at attention. Her hand grabbed one of his calves and pushed his legs apart so she could settle between them.

Beckett couldn’t and wouldn’t let his ex-wives dictate the pace and state of her marriage. Sure, Gina didn’t make herself home like Meredith did, but this was the second time in as many days that she’d called at an inopportune time. Kate found it odd that she called her ex-husband now so often late at night or early in the morning when people would be asleep or otherwise engaged in sexual activities. She really didn’t mind that her fiancé was still working with his ex-wife but from dusk till dawn Rick should belong to her only.

Castle held his breath as her face came closer and closer until he could feel her minty breath. A shiver went down his spine, feeling goose bumps on his skin. Good lord, no! He shook his head as a warning. Having his fiancée go down on him while he was on the phone with his ex-wife was even too kinky for him. Beckett studied his beautiful cock while he was talking. It twitched and a bead of moisture gathered at the top. She licked her lips and glanced at him full of mischief. He saw the glint in her eyes and shook his head vehemently no again. He’d heard the stories about the mint effect on blowjobs. If she’d really just brushed her teeth and used the extra strong mouthwash, there was no way in hell he was not going to come like an inexperienced fifteen-year-old boy.

The white pearl still adorned his tip and she licked her lips again. She looked up to find him staring at her with baited breath. His phone threatened to slip out of his hand because he was holding it so loosely. Their eyes locked as she opened her mouth to take his head in. Slowly. Gently. Castle sucked in harshly when her tongue darted out to collect her prized drop. The sensation from the mint in her breath was literally mind blowing. Then she closed her lips around him and Rick’s head fell back against the headboard with a hard exhale.

“Richard! I’m talking to you!” Gina’s voice came out of the phone.

“Still here,” Castle reached down, torn whether he should put an end to this or brush Beckett’s hair aside to get a better look. She took him in a little deeper and begun to suck him. Watching her it was. Rick’s breathing got faster and shallower. She’d only started and he was already so close. He blamed the hot, tingling sensation from the mint. Castle cupped her head and guided her. Not that she required it; she knew exactly what he liked and how he liked it. But this morning he was already so fired up; he needed it faster and harder from the start. Her head bopped up and down on his cock, and Rick’s teeth sunk into his lower lip to keep from moaning.

“Then why aren’t you responding to my questions?” Gina berated him.

“Because you barely give me a chance to get a word in in between your breaths.” He growled as Kate sucked him harder. He should end the call right now because he could tell that she enjoyed this power play too much and wouldn’t hesitate to make him come while he’s on the phone with his ex-wife. Beckett’s passive-aggressive side didn’t come out often but when it did, it broke free with a vengeance.

Beckett grinned, knowing she was going to have him lose it in no time at all. The mint from his mouthwash did not fail the desired effect. She loved his beautiful cock. Loved caressing it with her fingers and lips. Loved feeling it throb in her mouth. Even loved the moment he lost control and spilled his seed. He never tasted bad. He never got rough with her, never forced himself onto her, when she pleasured him orally. He bit his fist in a weak attempt to stifle his moans.

“What? I didn’t hear what you just said.” He heard Gina’s voice over the phone that had slightly drooped in his lax hold.

“Nothing!” He pushed Kate’s head away and glared at her. Stop it. He did a double take, when he saw the mixture of mischievous glint and renewed determination in her eyes. Oh no, not funny, Kate! He shook his head vehemently. Not funny at all. When she blew hot air over his tip, the effect of the mint seemed to triple. His body tingled all over, the stark contrast between hot and cold became too much to handle and he whimpered.

“Rick?! What are you doing? You don’t sound so good. Are you ok? ” Genuine concern mixed into Gina’s voice.

“Yeah, just stubbed my toe in the bathroom is all.” Castle gasped in between short, shallow breaths. He was losing control. Beckett looked up sharply. His head thrown back, his mouth open and his eyes screwed shut tightly, he tried to fight his impending release.

His breathing got heavier. He didn’t know how much longer he could stand this torture. She needed to stop, or he needed to come, either way she’d been keeping him on the edge for so long, it was increasingly harder for him to keep his arousal out of his voice and follow the conversation with his ex wife. He had a very dark feeling that this was going to take an embarrassing turn for him.

“Why are you…?” Gina frowned. She recognized the sounds he was making from their marriage. “Ew! Are you…? Richard! Ew! What on earth is wrong with you! Can’t you wait to get your rocks off until we’ve hung up?”

“First of all, I’m…” he swallowed audibly, “not masturbating. Second, if I were, could you blame me? As usual you just kept calling me, not taking any hint, until I caved and took your call.” Oh god, this was not going to end well for him. His hips involuntarily rose off the mattress and Kate’s hand flew to his groin to keep him in place. With her other hand she fondled his balls, and Castle was pretty sure he was seeing stars by now.

Kate snickered. Castle pulled a face and stilled Kate’s head. She released him with a slurping noise and switched to pumping his erection with one hand, “What did you expect? Stubbed your toe, my ass.”

She realized he was really close to losing control from the way he was biting his lips. Making him come on the phone was perhaps a bit cruel, but then again, after the whole Meredith fiasco a few months ago, Beckett became convinced that it was time to put down her foot.

“What was that? Was that Kate?” Gina inquired, this time convinced that she’d not only heard but also recognized the voice in the background. And slowly it dawned on her what was really going on.

Castle's nostrils flared and he was breathing heavily through his open mouth, trying to draw out the experience. His self-control was slipping and Kate knew he was probably only seconds away from losing it. She just rolled her eyes at him and grabbed Rick’s phone before he dropped it. He was such a goner.

“He can’t talk right now, Gina, he’s a little indisposed. He’ll call you back later.” She ended the call just as she felt him explode.


	27. Chapter 27

“Fuck, Kate,” he hummed, “that was amazing.”

Castle nudged her softly away from his sensitive head. His eyes practically rolled back, as he collapsed into the sheets completely spent and shut them tightly. Rick’s whole body was still shaking and her name tumbled across his lips like a mantra over and over. Beckett moved up to claim his mouth in an intimate kiss. His eyes fluttered open and they gazed deeply into each other’s souls. 

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you come so hard,” she grinned smugly and reached for his boxers to wipe off his stomach before they spread his sticky mess all over their bodies cuddling.

“I don’t think I’ve ever received such an extraordinary blowjob.” He crowed – pride and delight interlaced in his voice. Rick held out his arm and she molded her body against his. She looked up through her eyelashes and gave him a smug grin. “Where’d you even learn that? Never mind I don’t wanna know.” He closed his eyes and let his head fall against the headboard.

“So I take it you liked this better than the ice cubes?” She teased him and played with his nipples.

“God, yes, Beckett. That trick with the mint felt incredible. Everything tingled and throbbed… I thought I was gonna come forever.” He sighed into her hair and placed a kiss on her head. “You made me feel like the prized stud horse in a breeding stable.”

“Hmm, a little stud _muffin_ maybe.” She teased him and pinched a bit of his tummy fat.

“How’d you even get that idea with the mint?” He ignored the jab and ran his fingers softly up and down her arm. 

“Saw your smug look when you thought you’d won and so I decided to try something different and teach you a lesson.” She shrugged her shoulders, unwilling to divulge her source.

Castle laughed, “For the record, I _love_ your experimental side, but we may have scarred my ex-wife for life.”

“Serves her right.” Kate harrumphed as she stroked his chest. “Maybe next time she’ll think twice before she tries to cockblock us again.”

Rick caught her hand and chuckled, “You’re adorable when you get all feisty.”

“What did she want anyway?” She laced her fingers through his.

“Even with your dad’s foresight, we weren’t as discreet as we thought. Some reporter must have put two and two together when they saw Det. Sanchez and Clarke go into the building and fabricated a front-page piece about the NYPD reopening the investigation into my involvement in the Horton case.”

Kate groaned.

“Now Gina’s phone’s been ringing off the hook. If it’s not a journalist asking for a comment, it’s a sponsor pulling out of tonight’s launch party. Stupid morality clauses!”

“Oh no,” Kate sighed and felt a little like a bitch after what she’d just done to his ex. “No wonder she’s fuming.”

“It’s ok, makes it easier to discuss my plans with Gina and Paula.”

“Plans?”

“Well, technically it’s your plan.”

“Mine? Why, what are we gonna do?”

“I asked Gina to see if Tomas Marquez is interested in rescheduling his interview from yesterday for an exclusive today.”

“Who is he?”

“The inspiration for Jameson Rook.”

“I always thought you immortalized yourself as Rook just like you did with me and Nikki.”

“And in some ways that’s true for the name and the character overall,” Castle explained, “but the reporter stuff I pieced together from different journalists I’ve encountered in my career as a writer, in particular one.”

“Tomas Marquez.” She finished. “Are you sure that’s the right move?” She looked at him worried. “I know what I said last night but I wasn’t sober. What on earth do I know about PR?”

“What you said about Jameson Rook really resonated with me,” Rick brushed his hand over her back gently. “It got me thinking about journalism, sensationalism and integrity.”

“What Lawson does is hardly called journalism. Hendricks called him a hack and McCord thinks he’s a douche.” She interjected.

“What, fanboy’s got no opinion? I’m crushed!”

“Rookie said to tell you he’s #TeamCastle all the way.”

“Atta boy,” Rick laughed out loud.

“So what did Gina say?”

“Naturally she didn’t like the idea one bit.” Castle sighed.

“I don’t blame her. After what happened with Lawson, I’m not sure I like the idea of you ever talking one on one with another journalist again.”

“But see that’s the beauty of my plan,” Rick explained excited. “Marquez is the complete opposite of Lawson.”

“He’s still a society reporter, Rick,” Kate yawned, “he’ll hang you out to dry first chance he gets. I wouldn’t trust him as far as I can throw him.”

“That’s because you don’t know him,” Castle countered, “but I do. I’ve done a few sit-down interviews with him in the past and learned a lot about the man. Whenever we run into each other at a fundraiser, we share a beer at the bar and swap stories about our plights as fathers of teenage daughters. Did you know he used to be an investigative reporter years ago?”

“Then what’s he doing writing about Kim and Kanye?” 

“Penance.” Rick explained, “Years ago he was silenced when he pursued a really hot story. So hot it almost got him killed and he won’t even give me a clue fifteen years later. His wife begged him to drop the story for the sake of his family. His girls were little then. Ever since he buried that lead he’s hated himself for betraying his principles.”

“He did it to protect his family,” Kate interjected. “Let me guess, you want to sic Marquez on Lawson.”

“Exactly.” Rick grinned. He loved their mind melds. “He despises exploitative news making as much as you and I do.”

“He’s your best chance at finding a journalist who’ll stick to the hard facts without putting their personal spin on it to make a name for themselves.” Beckett followed his train of thoughts easily.

 “And not only that,” Castle wiggled his eyebrows, “knowing him he’ll feel an itch to look into Lawson. This may just be the push he needs to get back into investigative journalism.”

Kate chuckled, “So you’re really doing _him_ a favor.”

Castle smiled, “I’ve always been a huge proponent of ‘I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine.’ Marquez will leap at the chance to expose a charlatan like Lawson.”

“And if you get Marquez to write about the story, he’ll make sure the truth is heard. He’ll call Lawson on his misrepresentation of facts so you won’t have to.”

“Which is what made Gina come around eventually. I won’t have to engage with the media because Marquez will do the dirty work for me. He’ll write objectively about the truth. I told Gina he’ll be the only exception to our no comment rule.”

“There’s only one minor problem with your plan.” Kate pointed out and Castle stared at her shocked that he could have missed something. “Marquez won’t be really objective because technically he’s becoming our mouthpiece.”

Rick narrowed his eyes and she laughed out loud.

“On whose side are you on anyway?” He whined. “We’re the good guys, remember?”

“Yes, but this is reality, not fiction. And in the real world the bad guys triumph over the good ones more than we both care for to admit.”

“My plan’s fool proof. Trust me?” He looked into her eyes. “Please?”

“I trust you,” Beckett sighed and leaned over to kiss him. “It’s him I don’t trust. Maybe I’m a bit of a control freak but I don’t like the idea of you walking into a potential trap alone.”

“I won’t. And it’s not a trap. Besides, Gina and Paula will be there.” Rick quickly reassured her but failed to notice the effect his words had on her. They couldn’t have stung more if he’d slapped Kate. He was taking Gina and Paula but not her?

“Paula was there when Lawson ambushed you and did nothing about it.” Beckett immediately lashed out a little. Why didn’t he want her there? Did he not trust her anymore?

“That’s not quite true. She tried to get the interview pulled the second Lawson’s true intentions became clear. I saw her yelling into her phone from the corner of my eye in the hot seat. He blindsided all of us.”

“I just want to protect you.” Kate flipped on her back and let out a little huff.

“Kate, you don’t think…“ He called out her name and rolled on his side. “Honey, there’s nothing you could have done to prevent this.” Castle’s hand slid over her naked hip and pulled her closer.

“I should’ve been there.”

“And done what? Arrest Lawson? For what?”

“I don’t know. But at least I _could’ve_ done _something_ if I had been there.”

“As the only person in this room who was actually there, trust me when I say it wouldn’t have made any difference.”

“I should’ve been there for you,” she whispered, “should’ve protected you.” 

Rick leaned over her body to look her straight in the eyes, “You’re here now, Kate. You dropped everything in DC and came here to be with me. Just having you near makes everything already so much better.” He brushed his lips softly over hers. “You _are_ there for me, Kate. You’re here for me in the best way. Just your presence grounds me, calms me, and lifts my spirits. I don’t need anything else from you.”

Then why don’t you want me there with you for the interview? Her eyes searched his for an answer. He kissed her passionately and she breathed a quiet, “I love you,” before his lips silenced her completely.

0~0~0~0~0

“You didn’t!” Lanie pulled back the curtain from her cabin and stared open mouthed at the one Kate occupied on the opposite side.

“I just had enough, ok?” Beckett hissed and stuck her head out through hers.

“Kate Beckett, you naughty girl!” The M.E. teased her best friend whose head disappeared behind the curtain again with a dramatic eye roll.

“What was I supposed to do? This morning makes three out of three times that one of his… _women_ interfered with my sex life in the last 48 hours.” 

“His women?” Lanie chuckled amused while she viewed herself in the floor mirror. She pulled and straightened the floor-length beaded black robe she was wearing undecided.

“Yeah,” Kate drew back the curtain irritated, wearing a summer dress with floral print, “his entire life is run by women. There’s simply too much estrogen in his life besides mine. If it’s not Alexis or Martha who need him, it’s Paula or Gina who want something from him. Is it really too much to ask for a little personal time with my own husband? I mean the woman was married to the man, for god’s sake, she _must know_ how horny he gets in the mornings. She should know better than to call us at sunrise.”

“First of all, love the way you’ve just started referring to Castle as your husband,” Lanie grinned and Kate smiled bashfully. “Second, you need to put your foot down.”

“I tried,” Kate interjected and stepped up next to her best friend. “Lose that dress, Lanie, we’re not going to the Oscars!”

“Too much?” The M.E. frowned and looked up in the mirror where she saw her friend nod. “Meanwhile you look like you’re going to my great aunt’s book _club_ and not Castle’s book _party_.”

Beckett grimaced, “It looked better on the mannequin.”

They sighed in unison and retreated to their respective changing rooms.

“Remember when Meredith waltzed in a couple of months ago and commandeered the loft right under your nose?” Lanie called out as she peeled off the tight robe.

“Do you think Gina’s marking her territory now?” Kate paused putting on another dress to consider this option. “I don’t really know her that well. We’ve only met a handful of times since I’ve started dating Rick but she’s never shown me any animosity.”

“Maybe that’s just how things get right before a major book launch?” Lanie reasoned as she slipped into a short, red one-shoulder cocktail dress. “Or maybe it’s extenuating circumstances because of that whole Lawson thing.”

As if by command, both women pushed aside the curtains and gave each other an approving once over. Much better. They stepped in front of the mirror, inspecting their figures from every angle. 

Kate tried to recall the release of the other Nicki Heat and Derrick Storm novels. She realized that for some strange reason, she and Rick always got into a fight right before his book promotion tours and she’d never really seen that side of his day job until they started dating and she accompanied him to a few cities during her suspension last year. Unfortunately, or fortunately really, those first few months of dating felt like a blissful, rose-tinted bubble full of happy memories, untouched by outside events.

From the moment they’d got together, they’d been practically inseparable. She must’ve spent half of her suspension with him on his book tour but all she remembered were the passionate nights in fancy hotel suites. He wore her out during sex, so much she usually took a nap during his book signings but sometimes woke up in time to sneak into one of his late afternoon readings and hovered in the background, listening to his smooth voice. Afterwards she took him straight back to their suite for room service and other services.

“What do you think?” Lanie asked Beckett for her opinion.

“I like it,” Kate nodded and then gave her best friend a shit eating grin, “Javi’s gonna _love_ it.”

“Stop it,” Lanie slapped her on the shoulder and twirled around in front of the mirror. “I don’t know. It’s not bad but I just don’t feel _it_. I think I’m gonna keep looking. What about you?”

“Dunno,” Kate stared at her reflection. She looked beautiful, there was no doubt about it, but the dress was a little plain and too nice girl from next door. Her plan was to knock Castle off his feet and send a very clear message to the room that the hunt for the White Wale was over once and for all. Meanwhile his male ego would thrive on the jealous looks the other male guests would cast his way because he was taking the most beautiful woman in the room home tonight. “Maybe something that shows off my legs since I can’t wear plunging necklines with my scar.”

Lanie raised her eyebrows, “That’s never stopped you before. I think you always do a great job covering it up with make up.”

“Yeah, but I want to look perfect tonight. There’s a chance we’ll be photographed and you know HD cameras are unforgiving.” 

“True, but since when are you so concerned with your looks?”

“I just want to look good for Castle tonight.”

“Honey, you could wear a wet paper bag and writer boy would pay you the nicest compliments.” The M.E. shook her head.

“I don’t want to give the hyenas more fodder to criticize us,” Beckett sighed, “if I wear the wrong dress tonight.”

“Kate,” Lanie took her friend’s hand and guided her to the armchairs in the corner, “you _always_ look dazzling. Ignore those people who are prying into your private life.”

“We can’t, Lanie, they’re everywhere. They’re camping outside our building; they’re calling the loft. Ever since the Lawson story broke, we’ve been living in a fishbowl under a microscope.”

“That bad?”

Kate nodded.

“Oh, honey.”

“Paula and Gina don’t even want me to come tonight because they’re afraid how it will affect Rick’s image. They don’t want him to be seen with me for a while. They think it will hurt him.”

“What?” Lanie looked at her best friend shocked. “So what are you gonna do?”

“Walk down that red carpet hand in hand with my ruggedly handsome fiancé, holding my head up high and wearing the best darn dress I can find.” Beckett grinned.

“That’s my girl.” Lanie bumped her friend’s shoulder affectionately. “Wait a moment, does that mean…?” 

Kate nodded, “We’re not going to make a big announcement or anything but we’re not gonna hide our engagement, either. If someone notices my ring and asks, we won’t lie.”

“Aw, I’m so excited for you,” the M.E. beamed and hugged her best friend, “we really have to celebrate your engagement tonight. Last night was a pitiful attempt to make up for that. We need to get the entire gang together and finally celebrate!”

“So you see, I need to look absolutely smashing tonight to shut up all those critics who’ll think I’m not good enough for the White Wale before they can badmouth us in the papers.”

“Alright,” Lanie jumped up as best as she could in her dress and pulled Kate out of her chair, “let’s find you something that says: bitch, please!”

 Beckett laughed out loud and let her friend drag her back to the racks. They perused the different styles and fabrics carefully.

Lanie held up a purple dress, “What do you think?”

“I don’t know,” Kate wiggled her head, “I love purple but I don’t think I could pull that dress off…” 

“Not for you, dummy, for me!” The M.E. shook her head laughing as she disappeared to the changing room. A few minutes later she heard Kate enter the stall next door. “Found something?”

“Yeah,” Kate mumbled as she slipped into her new dress, “you don’t mind if I wear something purple, too, do you? It’s a lot darker than yours and has a blue-ish tint.”

“No,” Lanie shook her head, “mine’s not gonna work out anyway. Don’t like the style at all. You were right. Can’t pull it off, either.” She still left her cabin to get a better look in the big mirror. Yep, still just as ugly. “In fact, I think no one can!” She heard the other curtain being drawn back and turned around.

“What do you think?” Beckett stood there nervously, wearing a critical frown. “Can you zip me up?”

“Oh my,” the M.E. was at a loss for words. The fabric shimmered dark deep purple or blue depending on the angle of the light. The dress itself was skin tight, featuring playful black lace on the bodice and a long slit in the skirt. It accentuated Kate’s feminine features perfectly. It was sexy and yet still elegant. It was revealing but not too skanky. It was simply… “Perfect,” Lanie concluded out loud.

“You think?” Beckett turned around and still looked unsure. “You don’t think it’s too risqué?” 

“Kate, you look absolutely stunning.” Lanie announced as she stepped behind her friend to pull up the zipper. “Knowing writer boy, he won’t be able to take his eyes off of you all evening. Fifty bucks says you won’t even make it home _in_ that dress tonight.”

“Ha! Mission accomplished,” Kate deadpanned as she straightened. She saw Lanie’s look in the mirror and winked, “In between Paula besieging my man, Gina badgering him with stuff about the tour and generally every woman in the room flirting with my fiancé, I’ll need something that screams back off my man.”

The M.E laughed out loud and snapped her fingers. “Well in that case…” her eyes brightened as she remembered something. She dashed off and returned a minute later with a tie that she draped over Beckett’s shoulder. “Better make sure to get the matching tie for writer boy. You can be like one of those Hollywood super couples.”

Beckett’s phone rang and interrupted the moment, “Speaking of the devil.”

“Go ahead and take it,” Lanie patted her friend reassuringly on the shoulders, “I’ll try on another dress in the meantime.”

 

0~0~0~0~0

 

“Hi, handsome.” Kate greeted her fiancé.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I must have dialed the wrong number.” Castle teased her, “My beautiful fiancée knows how _ruggedly_ handsome I am.” 

Kate laughed out loud.

“What are you wearing?” Rick’s curiosity got the better of him.

Kate looked at herself in the mirror as she described the dress in every little detail.

Castle groaned, “Great, now I have to take a cold shower before I head out.”

“You don’t know half of it,” Kate teased him, “Lanie has fifty dollars riding on your lack of self-control, hoping I won’t make it home _in_ that dress.”

“Shit, Kate,” Rick whined, “I was joking before but now my imagination’s running wild and I’m really getting hard!”

Beckett lowered her voice but still managed to sound threatening over the phone. “Don’t you dare take matters into your own hand. You hear me? I’ve got plans for us tonight and nobody and nothing will stop me so you better be in top form and tell Gina and Paula to leave us alone!”

“Congratulations, now I have to _officially_ squeeze in an ice cold shower before I leave for the interview. Happy now?”

“Very,” Kate grinned.

 “You just don’t want me to do the interview,” Castle chuckled. “Never thought you’d stoop so low and use such a dirty old trick.”

 “Well, is it working?” Kate smirked.

“Look,” Rick sighed, “I know you’re worried about another ambush but I’ve shared your concerns with Gina and Paula. They’ve come up with a great set-up for the interview. We’re doing it on our own terms and under strict conditions at Black Pawn. At the first sign of trouble, we’ll abort. It won’t go to print without our approval.”

“I still don’t have a good feeling about this.”

“You worry too much, sweetheart,” Castle tried to ease her mind. “I’m in good hands with Paula and Gina. Nothing’s gonna happen; this time we’re prepared.”

Kate closed her eyes and sighed. She’d feel better if he were in _her_ hands.

“Anyways, I just wanted to give you a heads up that I won’t be here when you get home. Mother’s in and out all day, too. The limo’s picking us up at 6.45 but I should be home at least an hour before then.”

“Ok,” Beckett nodded quietly, “I’ll see ya later then.”

“Love you, Kate.”

 “Love you, too.” She hung up and stared at her reflection pensively.

A few minutes later, Lanie returned with another dress. She observed her friend quietly and immediately noticed Kate’s change in mood.

“Are you ok?”

“Hm?” Beckett flipped her hair back and looked at her friend absent-mindedly. “Oh yes, I’m fine.” She made a dismissive gesture.

Lanie sighed, “Kate, something’s bothering you, I can tell. Is everything alright between you and Castle?”

Beckett closed her eyes and shook her head slowly. When she opened them again, tears were shimmering in her eyes and Lanie gasped shocked. “Sit down, sweetie.” Kate sank into one of the armchairs with a heavy sigh, while Lanie pulled up the other one. “What’s going on?” 

“I’ve ruined everything, Lanie.”

“What are you talking about?”

“He’s withdrawing from me.” Beckett exhaled slowly, fighting her tears back. “He just called to let me know that he won’t be home when I get back because he’s doing an exclusive interview for the Ledger.”

“But isn’t that what you wanted?” Lanie couldn’t quite follow. “That’s what we talked about last night, right? Get the truth out there. I don’t understand what the problem is?”

“It didn’t even occur to him to ask me to come along. So either he doesn’t _want_ me there or he doesn’t _dare_ asking me to go because he’s afraid of my reaction.” 

“Or maybe he just didn’t want to spoil your day by asking you to do something you loathe with the press when you could be spending it doing something fun with me.” Lanie reasoned.

“But that’s the whole point, Lanie, we’re engaged.” Kate disagreed. “I don’t want him to feel like he’s asking me for some kind of favor. I wish he knew that I’d do anything for him.”

“Maybe he does and that’s enough for him, knowing that you would.” Lanie shrugged her shoulders. “I’m sure he knows that when he really needs you, you’ll always be there for him. Isn’t that what marriage is about? Compromise?”

“He shouldn’t be the one compromising all the time.” Beckett huffed. “I wish he’d give me a chance to prove that I’m just as willing to make sacrifices for us. Instead he’s secretly convincing himself that I’ll leave him at the altar at the latest if something doesn’t go my way.”

Suddenly it made all sense to the M.E. The dress. The interview. The decision to go public tonight… “And you think making your relationship official by walking down a red carpet in front of a group of paparazzi will curb his doubts?”

Beckett picked up on the slightly disapproving tone of her friend and sent her an irritated look. “Well, at least he’ll know that I’m standing by him when times get rough. It’s one way I can show him that I have his back, too. Make him see that he has my full support and unconditional love, even when he feels he doesn’t deserve it.”

“Kate, I think you’re seeing ghosts here.” Lanie tried to reason with her best friend before she got too far off the track.

“I wish, Lanie,” Beckett sent her a miserable glance and told her about the draft she’d found in his office and the ensuing fight. Small cracks appeared in Kate’s perfect veneer and before she knew it, her façade came crumbling down. Suddenly all her frustrations and fears from the last few days poured out in an endless string of self-doubts: She never had enough time for Rick and the long hours at work kept her away from him when he visited. She loved her new job and liked her new team well enough but she missed the camaraderie from the twelfth and especially working with Castle. The long and frequent separations from Castle slowly ate away at her and lacking a place to call home did the rest. She felt like a complete failure.

“I didn’t know it was going to be so hard, Lanie. I really thought I could have it all but now it’s like Castle and I live those parallel lives next to each other.”

 Somewhat shocked, Lanie took in all the information. “Honey, why didn’t you say anything last night?”

“Because it hurts, Lanie.” Beckett sniffled. “I feel like I’ve let him down. I ruined everything and now he’s plagued by these insecurities and I can’t get through to him anymore. I’m trying to respect his feelings but it’s slowly killing me.”

“Does he know?” Lanie rubbed Kate’s shoulders comfortingly. “I mean have you told him that? Because I don’t think he’s trying to intentionally hurt you.” 

“Of course not,” Beckett shook her head, “but I don’t feel I have the right to make any demands at the moment. It’s my fault we’re in this mess. If I hadn’t gone to interview for a job in another city behind his back…” 

“But you did,” Lanie interjected. “However, just because you made a mistake doesn’t mean you have to suffer endlessly for it. Talk to Castle, the man’s no mind reader.” 

“He used to be,” Kate sighed. “Sometimes I got the impression he understood me better than I did myself. He just _gets_ me. I don’t want to make him feel bad for making me feel sad for something I ultimately am at fault for, you know? He doesn’t deserve that.” Beckett looked up and smiled timidly. “He’s always been there for me and now I’d like to be the rock _he_ can lean on. I want that chance to prove to him that he can always count on me; that I’ll always be there for him to help him pick up the pieces the way he’s done it for me. But how can I do that if he just shuts me out completely?” 

“I don’t know,” Lanie shrugged her shoulders, “maybe you should ask Castle that question. He’s got more experience in that arena. What did he do when _you_ gave him the cold shoulder?”

“Well, for starters,” Kate chuckled, “he never took no for an answer.” _He_ _just kept showing up every day no matter what_. She heard Montgomery’s voice in her head and sucked in her breath quickly as a wave of grief washed over her. Maybe Rick didn’t ask her because he never did with her, either, and just assumed she’d go if she really wanted to.

“There you go,” Lanie grinned, “just go to the interview with him.”

Beckett paused and frowned. Could it be that simple? What would Paula and Gina say if she just showed up at Black Pawn? How would Castle react when he saw her?

“You’re overthinking things, Kate.” Lanie shook her head disapprovingly. “Just do it and stop worrying about other people. Do you think Castle gave a rat’s ass what you or Javi and Kevin thought about him showing up every day at the precinct?” 

“You’re right!” Kate rose from her chair and nodded slowly. “I’ll just keep showing up, whether he likes it or not.”

“Just not in this dress,” Lanie chuckled and steered Beckett slowly to the cabin. 

“Wait, what about you?” Kate stopped and bit her lip. “You still don’t have a dress.”

“I’ll find one on my own.”

“Are you sure?” Beckett looked at her guiltily. “I feel terrible for leaving you here on your own.”

“Yes,” Lanie reassured her.

“Thanks for being so understanding.” Kate hugged her friend. “You know you’re my best friend but if Castle needs me, he’ll always come first.”

“No offense taken.” Lanie shooed her in the cabin. “Now hurry!”

 

0~0~0~0~0

  

They bumped into each other, quite forcefully, at the front door to the loft as Castle tried to leave.

“Ooof,” Kate exhaled as Rick literally knocked the breath out of her.

“Kate!” He exclaimed surprised and held his arms out to steady her while she got her bearings again.

“Oh good! You’re still here!”

“I was just about to leave.” Castle pointed at the open door behind them. “Is something wrong? Did something happen?” He looked at her concerned.

Kate leaned in to give him a quick peck on his cheek as she breezed past him into the loft, dropping her shopping bags. “Don’t worry, everything’s fine. Just give me five minutes?” She called over her shoulder as she disappeared into their bedroom.

 “For what?” He yelled after her.

“I need to get out of these sweaty clothes.” He could practically _hear_ the eyeroll in her voice, which made him chuckle.

“I know your five minutes,” he grumbled.

“I heard that!”

“No, you didn’t!” He countered.

“Didn’t have to, you’re so predictable.” She shot back. He listened to her moving around and rustling for a few moments in silence, before she reassured him, “I’ll be right out and then we can leave.”

“We?” Castle smirked.

“Yes, we,” Kate announced triumphantly as she emerged from their bedroom again. “I’m coming along.”

“Okay,” he looked at her a little perplex.

Kate stepped up and fixed his collar, “What’s the secret to a long and successful marriage?”

“Yes, dear; and kinky sex?” He winked at her.

“No,” she drew out the word and shook her head at him. “Keep showing up.”

“Keep show…” He started to repeat after her and trailed off. The corner of his mouth twitched amused as he made the connection. “Montgomery.”

Beckett nodded, “This is me, just showing up. Come rain or sunshine. Every day. In good times as in bad times. For richer, for poorer. In sickness and in health.” She grabbed him by the lapels of his suit jacket and gazed deeply into his eyes. As small smile played around his lips as he listened to her practically doing a dry-run of her vows. He swallowed the lump in his throat. “For in my heart, Richard Edgar Castle, we’re already married. I don’t need some piece of paper to tell me what I already know in my heart. You became my husband the moment I said yes to your proposal…”

“Kate!” Her name rushed out of his mouth before he pressed his lips on hers softly.

“I’m not finished,” she mumbled.

“Shhh,” he grinned and pried her mouth open to deepen his kiss. Kate gave in and melted into his arms as he held her tighter and backed her up against the wall.

“Don’t mind me,” Martha quipped as she breezed through the wide open front door like a hurricane, living up Castle’s nickname for her. “I’m not even here. I left my sunglasses and had to come back to get them on my way to the stylist.” She flew past her kissing children, who just kept ignoring her, and picked the shades off the kitchen counter. Martha made sure she closed the front door noisily, which eventually startled the couple out of their reverie.

“I love you, too.” Kate smiled as she pressed soft little kisses on his lips.

“Let’s get married,” Rick beamed, “right now.”

“We can’t,” Beckett sighed in between kisses, “we’ve got to get to the interview and then we have a book party to attend and we don’t even have a marriage license yet…”

Castle pulled away, “I hate it when you get all practical and logical…”

She just smiled and rubbed her nose on his cheek, “Soon, Rick. Would a small, impromptu engagement party among friends tide you over till the big day?”

“Barely,” he pulled her even closer and kissed her longingly.

“Good, because Lanie’s probably already making plans.” 


End file.
